Secured vertical handoff decision scheme for the Fourth Generation (4G) wireless networks

One of the main issues in the fourth generation (4G) wireless networks is the vertical handoff decision. The handoff is the mechanism used in order to let a mobile node (MN) switches from a network to another without remarkable service disconnection. Thus, the delay consumed to choose the suitable network to which the MN may connect is a major issue, which may impact the offered quality of service (QoS). In this paper we will present a Secured Vertical Handoff Decision (Sec-DVHD) scheme using the PKI algorithm, which is an extension of our proposed scheme, the distributed vertical handoff decision (DVHD). The simulation shows a good performance of the Sec-DVHD in term of handoff blocking rate and throughput.