A Utility Function-based Access Selection Method for Heterogeneous WCDMA and WLAN Networks

WCDMA/WLAN interworking networks are considered to support high-data-rate multimedia services and high mobility. In this paper, we propose a utility function-based access selection method (UFAS) to determine which cell is most suitable for a mobile node's service request in heterogeneous WCDMA and WLAN networks. The UFAS method contains three parts, cells classification, utility function computation, and target cell determination. This utility function is composed of four evaluation functions, and is designed with a balancing index which can reduce the utility value of a cell if the cell is heavily loaded. Simulation results show that the UFAS method achieves larger system throughput than a policy-enabled (PE) handoff decision method (Wang, 1999). Moreover, the UFAS method can reduce handoff occurrence rates and strike a balance between system utilization and cell loading while maintaining QoS requirements.