Network-assisted vertical handover scheme in heterogeneous aeronautical network

Leveraging the efficient control of Software Defined Networking (SDN), the heterogeneous aeronautical networks can achieve seamless vertical handovers for the switching aircraft. In this paper, we design the vertical handover scheme assisted by the network-side SDN controller, and analyze its evaluation metrics including the successful handover probability, average handover latency and user satisfaction. Then, we evaluate these metrics under different SDN controller deployments. Numerical results show that the successful handover probability is not affected by different controller deployment solutions, and generally, for the vertical handovers under the ground-based controller deployment, their average handover delays and user satisfactions are better than those under the satellite-based controller deployment.