An enhanced vertical handover decision algorithm designed for vehicular networks

Nowadays automotive industry is taking advantage of the latest developments offering On-Board Units, which are powered by advanced processors, GPS devices, sensors, and multiple wireless access technologies such as Wi-Fi, WiMAX and UMTS. Users within vehicular networks will be able to access content from the Internet at high speeds while moving from one place to another, switching among multiple access points with heterogeneous coverage areas, as well as with different Quality of Service (QoS) levels offered. To maintain data connections alive in such dynamic conditions, Vertical Handover techniques are required. In this paper we present a Vertical Handover Decision Algorithm designed for dynamic environments. The decision making process is optimized by combining networking information, obtained by the services of the IEEE 802.21 standard, with geolocation, map information, surround context information and route calculation, thereby improving the handovers’ performance. Keywords— Vertical handover, IEEE 802.21, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, UMTS, ns-2, GPS, vehicular networks.