A handover algorithm for DS-CDMA mobile networks in a urban microcellular environment

A hard handover algorithm is presented for a DS-CDMA microcellular network. In the presence of a SIR (signal-to-interference ratio) based power control scheme on the forward link, it makes an efficient use of all the information available in the network. Its performance is evaluated in terms of the average number of handovers per call, the cumulative distribution function of SIR and the cumulative distribution function of the base station available power. The performance is compared to that provided by the typical hard handover algorithm, which is only based on the comparison of the received signal power on the pilot channels received from the reference base station and from the best neighbouring base station. It is seen that, for a given value of the average number of handovers, the new algorithm provides better performance in terms of outage probability.