Handover in LTE-advanced wireless networks: state of art and survey of decision algorithm

The increasing demand for mobile communication calls for improvements to network operating services in terms of capacity, coverage, and Quality of Services (QoS). Ensuring QoS is one of the challenges faced by wireless network operators, which include the provision of high mobility speeds, thus the implementation of a seamless and fast handover between network cells is a prominent issue that must be addressed, especially when fulfilling QoS prerequisites. Long Term Evolution (LTE)/LTE-Advance has met these demands of QoS through the use of a new Radio Access Network and distribution of Radio Resource Management including the handover decision technique to evolve NodeB instead of relying on centralized control. In this paper, we review the control plane structure of LTE/LTE-A and present a comprehensive discussion of handover procedures such as the phases, techniques, requirements, features, and challenges involved. According to the overview of the handover decision phase, we surveyed and classified the present handover decision algorithms for a LTE-A system-based technology in regard to the primary handover decision technique. For each class, we describe in detail the fundamental operations and decision parameters using representative algorithms. A summary of input parameters, techniques, and performance evaluation of the handover decision algorithms concludes this work.