Trends in handover design

TLDR

Handover transfers an ongoing call between cells as users move, and the deployment of smaller cells increases the frequency of cell boundary crossings. The paper reviews handover performance and control literature to highlight current research trends. The review examines handover studies across single‑tier systems, emphasizes macrocell behavior, notes changes with shrinking cell sizes, and summarizes challenges and solutions for macrocell–microcell overlay networks.

Abstract

Handover is the mechanism that transfers an ongoing call from one cell to another as a user moves through the coverage area of a cellular system. As smaller cells are deployed to meet the demands for increased capacity, the number of cell boundary crossings increases. The author presents an overview of published work on handover performance and control and discusses current trends in handover research. He discusses investigations that are applicable to a single tier of cells. He focuses on macrocells, but includes a brief discussion on how things change as cell sizes shrink. By assuming an overlay of macrocells and microcells he summarizes issues and approaches unique to such systems.