Handover based on AP load in software defined Wi-Fi systems

Abstract

Existing wireless systems do not work efficiently under changing environment. Due to its inflexible and proprietary hardware based architectural limitations it's not easy for an operator to change the network strategy under heavy loads, which enables vendors to try and implement new networking protocols. The software defined network (SDN) is proposed to bring flexibility and programmability, which allows the control plane of switch to be controlled and managed remotely using open-flow channels. Taking the advantage of SDN in wireless networks, a new SDN based Wi-Fi architecture is introduced and an access point (AP) load balance based handover algorithm is proposed. Mininet Wi-Fi emulator is used to construct the desired topology for experiments and performance analysis. Simulation results show a successful handover from an overloaded AP to a lightly loaded AP. A significant improvement observed in the throughput with low latency.