Vertical Handoff Decision Using Fuzzification and Combinatorial Fusion

Abstract

This letter proposes a new approach to making network selection simple yet effective. Under consideration is a heterogeneous environment where a mobile user roams within a two-tier network architecture over different radio access technologies. Allowing for multiple determinants, we design a scheme for a user equipment to deduce whether handoff is imminent by fusing several metrics-received signal strength, data rate, and network latency. Our method harnesses strengths of fuzzy logic while maintaining lower computational complexity by means of combinatorial fusion. Our results demonstrate that the new approach outperforms other previous proposed fuzzy logic-based strategies in terms of time efficiency and operational effectiveness with the same level of vertical handoffs.