Handover initiation algorithm based on combined signal strength measurements and distance

Received signal strength indicator (RSSI) is one of the key handover criteria for mobile cellular systems. Present day systems allow mobile station (MS) to have distance information for emergency calls, road side assistance etc. If distance and RSS are considered together as handover criteria then they can provide very good performance and combat worst case handover scenario. This paper proposes a combined signal strength measurements and distance based handover algorithm. Combined signal strength measurements mean both relative and absolute signal strength measurements. Number of handovers and handover delay are considered as performance metrics. It is shown through simulation that proposed algorithm performs well in macro-cellular and micro-cellular environment.