An MDP-Based Handover Decision Algorithm in Hierarchical LTE Networks

Hierarchical macrocell and femtocell networks aim to provide seamless roaming and improve network capacity. UEs moving in such networks may experience frequent handovers. In this paper, a handover decision algorithm considering data arrival, handover delay and signaling cost is proposed based on Markov decision processes. The expected total reward seeks a balance between transmission latency and handover signaling overhead, under dynamic traffic arrivals. A typical scenario is simulated, where a UE roams in a macrocell, passing through an array of femtocells with different connection capacities, and the simulation experiment indicates the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.