Improving Initiation Phase for Vertical Handover in Heterogeneous Mobile Networks

One challenge of wireless networks integration is to provide ubiquitous wireless access abilities and seamless handover for mobile communication devices between different types of technologies (3GPP and non-3GPP) such as Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and Long Term Evolution (LTE). This challenge is critical as Mobile Users (MUs) are becoming increasingly demanding for improved services regardless of the technological complexities associated with them. To fulfill these requirements for seamless Vertical Handover (VHO) two main interworking frameworks were proposed by IEEE Group and 3GPP for integration between the aforementioned technologies; namely, Media Independent Handover IEEE 802.21 (MIH) and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), where each of them requires mobility management protocol to complement its work such as Mobile IP (MIP) and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), respectively. This paper presents an improvement on the traditional Imperative Alternative MIH for Vertical Handover (I AM 4 VHO) algorithm for enhancing VHO in heterogeneous wireless networks environment. Finally, the numerical analysis of the improved algorithm shows lower VHO connection failure (probability of session rejection) compared to the traditional I AM 4 VHO algorithms. Keywords— Vertical Handover (VHO), Media Independent Handover (MIH), VHO Connection Failure.