Handover Management in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks
Summary
Handover management in heterogeneous wireless networks addresses the seamless transition of mobile users and devices between diverse radio access technologies—such as cellular (3G/4G/5G), Wi-Fi, and emerging low-power wide-area networks—to maintain uninterrupted service and optimal resource utilisation. Core challenges include mitigating service interruption, reducing signalling overhead, balancing network load and energy consumption, and preserving user experience under varying mobility and traffic conditions. Modern handover frameworks use multi-criteria decision processes that integrate metrics such as signal strength, network capacity, user preferences, battery state, and application quality-of-service requirements. Approaches range from analytic hierarchy and fuzzy logic methods to machine-learning and predictive models that anticipate link degradation and user trajectory. Advances in ultra-dense 5G deployments, software-defined networking and network function virtualisation have further enriched handover strategies by enabling dynamic context-awareness and cross-layer coordination. Effective handover management underpins ubiquitous connectivity for Internet of Things applications, high-speed transportation, emergency communications and smart-city infrastructures, ensuring reliable mobility support across overlapping coverage zones and heterogeneous access systems.
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Handover Management in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in handover management in heterogeneous wireless networks across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Heterogeneous Wireless Network: An environment where multiple radio access technologies coexist and overlap in coverage.
Handover: The process of transferring an active connection from one network access point to another without service interruption.
Vertical Handover: A handover between different types of radio access technologies (e.g., from cellular to Wi-Fi).
Quality of Service (QoS): A set of performance parameters—such as latency, throughput and packet loss—that determine the user’s service experience.
Multiattribute Decision Making (MADM): A framework for selecting among alternatives based on multiple weighted criteria.
Fuzzy Logic: A mathematical approach that handles uncertainty and imprecision by mapping inputs to degrees of truth rather than binary values.
References
- Energy-Efficient Handover Algorithm for Sustainable Mobile Networks: Balancing Connectivity and Power Consumption. Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks (2024).
- Context-Aware Radio Access Technology Selection in 5G Ultra Dense Networks. IEEE Access (2017).
- A multi-objective model-based vertical handoff algorithm for heterogeneous wireless networks. EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking (2021).
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