An SDN/ML-Based Adaptive Cell Selection Approach for HetNets: A Real-World Case Study in London, UK

Heterogeneous networks (HetNets) are one of the key enabling technologies for next-generation networks. They aim to provide high capacity, low installation cost, and distributed traffic loads. The cell selection issue is an open research problem in HetNets, due to the different characteristics of base stations and the existence of a large number of them. In this paper, a novel software-defined networking (SDN)/machine learning (ML)-based adaptive algorithm is proposed, called adaptive two-tier, based on the K-nearest neighbor (A2T-KNN) algorithm. It is designed for millimeter wave (mmWave)-based HetNets and it has the ability to adapt to the various movement features of moving vehicles, as well as the different characteristics of the base stations. A real-world case is considered in the center of London. Simulation results demonstrate that A2T-KNN achieves high prediction performance in association with different vehicle features and configuration information. It outperforms other related schemes in terms of average number of handovers by up to 45.83%. Moreover, it was found to enhance the average achievable downlink data rate and network energy efficiency achieved by vehicles by up to 17.18% and 16.86%, respectively.