Measurement and Stochastic Modeling of Vertical Handover Interruption Time of Smartphone Real-Time Applications on LTE and Wi-Fi Networks

Sungjin SHIN
Donghyuk HAN
Hyoungjun CHO
Jong-Moon CHUNG

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Communications   Vol.E100-B    No.4    pp.548-556
Publication Date: 2017/04/01
Publicized: 2016/11/16
Online ISSN: 1745-1345
DOI: 10.1587/transcom.2016EBP3211
Type of Manuscript: PAPER
Category: Network
Keyword: 
field test measurement,  stochastic modeling,  vertical handover,  LTE,  Wi-Fi,  

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Summary: 
Due to the rapid growth of applications that are based on Internet of Things (IoT) and real-time communications, mobile traffic growth is increasing exponentially. In highly populated areas, sudden concentration of numerous mobile user traffic can cause radio resource shortage, where traffic offloading is essential in preventing overload problems. Vertical handover (VHO) technology which supports seamless connectivity across heterogeneous wireless networks is a core technology of traffic offloading. In VHO, minimizing service interruption is a key design factor, since service interruption deteriorates service performance and degrades user experience (UX). Although 3GPP standard VHO procedures are designed to prevent service interruption, severe quality of service (QoS) degradation and severe interruption can occur in real network environments due to unintended disconnections with one's base station (BS) or access point (AP). In this article, the average minimum handover interruption time (HIT) (i.e., the guaranteed HIT influence) between LTE and Wi-Fi VHO is analyzed and measured based on 3GPP VHO access and decision procedures. In addition, the key parameters and procedures which affect HIT performance are analyzed, and a reference probability density function (PDF) for HIT prediction is derived from Kolmogorov-Smirnov test techniques.