A Novel Heuristic for Handover Priority in Mobile Heterogeneous Networks

Handover (HO) is designed to facilitate user mobility and ensure quality of service in mobile networks. In multiple base station (eNodeBs) scenarios, the HO priority process is a problem that has been studied in many surveys, as neglecting the use of priority-based schemes can result in high amounts of HO and, consequently, a decrease in the quality of services provided. This paper presents a Heuristic for Handover based on AHP-TOPSIS-FUZZY (H 2 ATF), which generates a priority ranking of eNodeBs from the use of (a) the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) to define the weights of the criteria; (b) the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to rank the selected target cells; and (c) the use of an adaptive hysteresis calculated through a fuzzy inference system based on parameters that directly impact the HO process. Through this proposal, it was possible to define the best time and, together, the best antenna to perform the HO. The results demonstrate a decrease of up to 43% in HO ping pong (HPP), a widely used metric in the literature to evaluate HO heuristics.