An Application-Oriented Cooperative Vertical Handoff Decision Method for Multi-interface Mobile Terminals

Vertical handoff is one of the most challenging issues in heterogeneous network environments. The existing vertical handoff decision methods have some disadvantages such as unfeasibility, ping-pong effects and inefficient utilization of wireless network resources. An application-oriented cooperative vertical handoff decision method for multi-interface mobile terminals is proposed in this paper. It supports cooperation among heterogeneous network interfaces. Different QoS requirements of various application types are considered in weight value determination. The handoff decision follows "per application" and "the most suitable" principles for efficient network resources utilization. Simulation results show that the proposed method can reduce the unnecessary handoff and realize well tradeoff between the performance optimization of single application and efficient utilization of network resources.