Hard Handover Performance Evaluation through Link Drops

Handover initiation algorithms in cellular networks are generally based on signal strength measurements. Handover rate and handover initiation delay are commonly used as metrics for handover performance evaluation. In this paper, we propose link drops as an alternative performance metric for handover algorithms. Handover initiation algorithm is based on relative signal strength with hysteresis margin and absolute threshold approach. Numerical results are obtained for handover rate, initiation delay and link drops via simulation model of the system. Input design parameters-hysteresis margin and absolute threshold are determined to optimize the handover performance for given system parameters