A VHO scheme for supporting healthcare services in 5G vehicular cloud computing systems

Abstract

Fifth Generation Vehicular Cloud Computing (5G-VCC) systems use heterogeneous network access technologies in order to fulfill the requirements of modern services, including medical services with strict constraints. Therefore, the need for efficient Vertical Handover (VHO) management schemes must be addressed. In this paper, a VHO management scheme for supporting medical services in 5G-VCC systems, is described. It consists of the VHO initiation and the network selection processes, while at the same time, the vehicle's velocity, its current connection type, as well as the status of the onboard patient's health, are considered. Specifically, during the VHO initiation process the necessity to perform handover is evaluated. Subsequently, the network selection process selects the appropriate network alternative considering both medical service requirements and patients' health status. The proposed scheme is applied to a 5G-VCC system which includes Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Worldwide Interoperability Microwave Access (WiMAX) Macrocells and Femtocells, as well as Wireless Access for Vehicular Environment Road Side Units (WAVE RSUs). Performance evaluation shows that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing VHO management schemes.