Evolutionary Game-Based Vertical Handover Strategy for Space-Air-Ground Integrated Network

Abstract

Space-Air-Ground Integrated Network (SAGIN) has recently attracted extensive attention as a new type of network architecture, which can meet the ever-increasing demands of users for ubiquitous access. However, due to different coverage performance of various networks and the demands of huge capacity in ultra-dense regions, frequent passive group handover will occur, thereby decreasing the quality of service (QoS) and causing signaling storms. To tackle this problem, we introduce low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, high-altitude platforms and ground base stations to cover ultra-dense regions. The mobility management functions are configured in LEO satellites, which serve as a central controller and compute the average utility based on QoS. We propose an evolutionary game-based vertical handover scheme, where the users covered by SAGINs are modeled as players to compete limited network resources. Simulation results verified the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in meeting the QoS while improving the utility of networks.