A Simulation Study of LTE Intra-Frequency Handover Performance

Intra-frequency handover is an important RRM procedure in LTE and the (self-) optimization of its performance, in terms of handover reliability and handover frequency, has been studied extensively by 3GPP. We present a simulation analysis of the handover performance in an LTE macro deployment, considering the impact and interdependency of key handover settings (offset, TTT, filter coefficient K) for UEs of different speeds. Different parameter combinations giving the same handover failure rate give approximately the same handover frequency; there is scope to reduce the latter by 10 to 20% by selecting the best combination. Failures, occurring mostly in the source cell, may be reduced through careful user plane design.