Asymmetrical handover algorithm for broadcast services in broadband wireless multimedia systems

To guarantee the quality of service (QoS) of broadcast services in broadband wireless multimedia (BWM) systems, a novel seamless broadcast cell asymmetrical handover (BCAH) algorithm is proposed. BCAH adopts the asymmetrical handover between the broadcast base station (BBS) with point-to-multipoint (PTM) transmission and the cell base station (CBS) with point-to-point (PTP) transmission. The handover from BBS PTM to CBS PTP takes into account the handover delay for accurate execution to maximize the utilization of the broadcast resources. The handover from CBS PTP to BBS PTM reduces unnecessary handover by considering the handover threshold predefined with QoS requirement of broadcast services to avoid ping-pong effect. BCAH maximizes the resource utilization while providing the continuity of broadcast services with QoS guarantees. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm improves system performance in terms of throughput and delay.