Handover optimisation for high-capacity low-latency 5G NR mmWave communication

Abstract

In millimetre wave (mmWave) networks, due to the limited communication range and to the narrow antenna beams, traditional handover techniques might not fully comply with the requirements of high-capacity Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) applications, such as autonomous vehicles. In this paper, we propose an optimal solution that sets performance boundaries for handover mechanisms. We compare the Fifth Generation (5G) handover mechanism performance with the proposed optimal solution in terms of number of handovers, ping-pong effect ratio, and delay. Our assessment indicates that the 5G handover can be improved to meet the novel applications’ tight constraints, evidenced by a ping-pong effect average reduction of 61%, a 5% increase in average capacity, and at least 17% and 15% increases in the number of messages received before delay expiration for 1 ms and 3 ms delay tolerance, respectively.