An Adaptive Network Scanning Algorithm in Hybrid Wireless Networks

In fourth generation (4G) networks including CDMA, WiBro, WLAN networks, Mobile Node (MN) must support multiple wireless network interfaces. Since an MN relies on battery power, energy efficiency is a very critical problem in terms of network scanning. In this paper, we propose an adaptive network scanning algorithm for energy efficiency. The algorithm consists of two schemes considering network mobility and user traffic class. The network scanning period is changed adaptively according to the mobile speed and user traffic class. With the adaptive network scanning period, MN can scan networks more energy efficiently by minimizing unnecessary scanning. The OPNET simulation results for the proposed network scanning algorithm show that the proposed algorithm is more energy efficient than the existing algorithm with the fixed scanning period.