Vertical handover-decision-making algorithm using fuzzy logic for the integrated Radio-and-OW system

Abstract-Due to the complementary nature of radio and optical wireless (OW) both in capacity and coverage, the combined use of both for data transmission could have advantages over a single media. However, big technical challenges for vertical-handover (VHO) strategy arise for such an integrated system. According to different interruption types and traffic modes, two basic VHO schemes can be applied: immediate VHO (I-VHO) and dwell VHO (D-VHO). This paper proposes a novel fuzzy-logic (FL)-based decision-making algorithm for VHO, which is capable of combining the merits of both schemes to achieve excellent handover in terms of packet transfer delay for all the cases considered here. The strength of FL in handling uncertain and conflicting decision metrics is exploited. Since excessive transfer delay results in disrupted connection and corrupted service, the proposed FL-based VHO decision-making algorithm has the potential to provide a better quality of service (QoS) to users in future wireless broadband communications.