MINIMIZINATION OF HANDOFF FAILURE PROBABILITY

AND HANDOFF LATENCY USING RELATIVE DISTANCE

METHOD
Debabrata Sarddar1, Arghya Sur1, Arindam Jati1 , Sourajit Jash1, Utpal Biswas3, M.K. Naskar1

1. Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engg, Jadavpur University, Kolkata – 700032.

E-mail: dsarddar@rediffmail.com, arghyaknight@gmail.com, arindamjati@gmail.com,
sourajitjash@gmail.com, mrinalnaskar@yahoo.co.in .

2. Dept of Electronics and Communication Engg, Netaji Subhash Engg College, Techno City, Garia, Kolkata – 700152.
Email: tjanansec@gmail.com
3. Department of Computer Science and Engg, University of Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, Pin- 741235,
Email: utpal01in@yahoo.com

Abstract- Handoff has become an essential
criterion in mobile communication system,
specially in urban areas, owing to the limited
coverage area of Access Points (AP). Handover
of calls between two BS is encountered frequently
and it is essentially required to minimize the
delay of the process. Further, the failure of
handoffs should also be minimized by correctly
predicting the future location of AP. Many
solutions attempting to improve this process have
been proposed but only a few use geo-location
systems in the management of the handover.
Here we propose to minimize the handoff
latency by minimizing the number of APs
scanned by the mobile node (MN) during each
handoff procedure. We consider the whole
topographical area as a two dimensional plane.
We assume hexagonal coverage area of an AP
with the AP situated at the center. By GPS, we
can note down the co-ordinates of the MN at any
instant. Calculating a relative distance of MN
from current AP at frequent time intervals, we
determine the trajectory of MN by GPS. Hence
the direction of motion of the MN can be
determined, which in turns gives the AP towards
which the MN is heading towards.
This reduces the number of APs to be scanned.
Thus, on an overall basis, the handoff latency
can be reduced by almost half to one third of its
value. Also by checking once after scanning if the
MN is coming back to its own AP, it can also
reduce false handoff probability.
Keywords: Next Generation Wireless Systems
(NGWS), IEEE 802.11, GPS (Global
Positioning System), Relative distance of MN,
Neighbor APs.
I. INTRODUCTION:
In the integrated NGWS, users are always
connected to best available networks based on
their service needs [1]. So, it is a very
important issue to support seamless mobility
management. Mobility management has two
parts:
(1) Location Management
(2) Handoff Management
Among these two, Handoff Management is the
most challenging issue in NGWS. It is the
process by which users keep their connections
active when they move from one AP to
another. Two types of handoff can be occurred
in NGWS shown in fig 1.
[I] Horizontal handoff: Handoff between two
BSs of the same system. It can be further
classified into
1) Link-layer handoff: Horizontal handoff
between two BSs, under same foreign agent
(FA), e.g., the handoff of a MT from BS10 to
BS11 in Fig. 1.
2) Intra-system handoff: Horizontal handoff
between two BSs that belong to two different
FAs and both FAs belongs to the same system
and hence to same
 gateway foreign agent (GFA), e.g., handoff of
MT from BS11 to BS12 in Figure 1.
[II] Vertical handoff (Inter-System Handoff):
Handoff between two BSs, belong to two
Figure 1.
We now describe the handoff procedure with its
various phases.
1.1 Handover Process
The complete handoff procedure can be
divided into 3 distinct logical parts: scanning,
authentication and re-association. In the first
phase, an STA scans for AP’s by either sending
Probe Request messages or by listening for
beacon message. After scanning all channels, an
AP is selected using the Received Signal Strength
Indication (RSSI) and CI ratio, and the selected
AP exchanges IEEE 802.11 authentication
messages with the STA. Finally, if the AP
authenticates the STA, the STA sends Re-
association Request message to the new AP.
1.2 Scanning
Scanning can be divided into active and passive
scans. During an active scan, the STA broadcasts
a probe request packet asking all APs in those
specific channels to impart their existence and
capability with a probe response package. In a
passive scan, the STA listens passively for the
different systems and two different GFAS,
e.g., the handoff of the MT from BS12 to
BS20 in Figure 1.
beacons bearing all necessary information like
beacon interval, capability information, supported
rate etc. about an AP. Active scan is normally
speedy as it aims to bypass the most time
consuming phases in the layer (L2) handoff
procedure, but is unreliable, since probe packets
may get lost or greatly delayed in wireless traffic
jams. Passive scan, though reliable, has a long
waiting time for beacons which is prohibitive to
many services. Thus a selective channel probing
should be judiciously used. The active scans
introduce two parameters:
‘Min Channel Time’ represents the arrival
time of the first probe response. So a client must
listen for this period of time to decide whether
there are any APs on this channel. It is
recommended to be set as 3-7 ms.
‘Max Channel Time’ is the estimated time to
collect all probe responses. It is supposed to be of
the magnitude of tens of milliseconds. For all
practical implementation, the maximum channel
time is set to 30 ms [7].
[2] Selective Channel Scanning:-
 Selective channel probing brilliantly reduces ‘Open System’ which is a null authentication
the handoff delay by a massive percentage when algorithm and ‘Shared Key’ which is a four-way
compared with selective scanning or basic active authentication mechanism. If Inter Access Point
scanning. Moreover, it was also stated that the Protocol (IAPP) is used, only null authentication
MN has to wait for only the ‘round trip time’ frames need to be exchanged in the re-
(rtt) for scanning each channel instead of the min authentication phase. Exchanging null
channel time or the max channel time. We know authentication frames takes about 1-2 ms.
that IEEE 802.11 uses 11 out of the 14 possible
channels, out of which 1, 6 1.4 Re-Association
and 11 are mutually non-overlapping. When the
MN responds to handoff, introducing the pre- Re-association is a process for transferring
scanning mechanism of GPS, it first looks for the associations from one AP to another. Once the
potential AP, when the threshold distance from STA has been authenticated with the new AP, re-
its present AP has been exceeded then it first association can be started. Previous works has
scans the channels 1, 6 and 11 if shown re-association delay to be around 1-2 ms.
present in that AP. If this fails, it will start The overall delay is the summation of scanning
scanning the 5 other channels of that AP. As delay, authentication delay, and re-association delay.
proposed in [8], the expected scanning delay
using selective scanning is
t = N’× ґ + α ,
where ‘t’ is the scanning delay, N’ is the number
of channels scanned, ‘ґ’ is the round trip time
and ‘α’ is the message processing time. ‘ґ’ is the
summation of the time taken for the Probe
Request to be sent to the selected AP’s and for
the
Probe Response to be received, which, in our
case, is nothing but the Min Channel Time,
which has been estimated to be around 3-7 ms.

Figure 2. Channel spectrum

Figure 3.The total handoff process in brief

1.3 Authentication
1.5 Global Positioning System
Authentication is necessary prior to
association. Authentication must either Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-
immediately proceed to association or must based global navigation satellite system. It
immediately follow a channel scan cycle. In pre- provides reliable positioning, navigation, and
authentication schemes, the MN authenticates timing services to worldwide users on a
with the new AP immediately after the scan cycle continuous basis in all weather, day and night,
finishes. IEEE 802.11 defines two subtypes of anywhere on or near the Earth which has an
authentication service: unobstructed view of four or more GPS
satellites. GPS is made up of three segments:
Space, Control and User. The Space Segment is
composed of 24 to 32 satellites in Medium Earth
Orbit and also includes the boosters required to
launch them into orbit. GPS satellites broadcast
signals from space that GPS receivers use to
provide three-dimensional location (latitude,
longitude, and altitude) plus precise time. GPS
has become a widely used aid to navigation
worldwide, and is a useful tool for map-making,
land surveying, commerce, scientific uses,
tracking and surveillance, and hobbies such as
geocaching and way marking.
II. RELATED WORKS:
So many researches have been made to
improve Handoff in IEEE 802.11 based
networks. A lot of new protocols have been
proposed. For QoS demanding applications like
VoIP and multimedia, seamless handover in
mobility support has become a great issue. In
past few years, some neighbor graph and GPS
based Handoff procedures have been proposed.
In [2], authors propose selective channel
scanning mechanism using neighbor graphs.
They scan neighbor APs and collect their
respective channel information. They need
changes in network infrastructure and use of
IAPP. Chung- Sheng Li et all in [3] focus on
neighbor graph cache mechanism for link layer2
handover. In [4] & [5], authors use GPS based
access point maps for handoff management. In
[6], S. Kyriazakos et all propose an
algorithm to resolve the well known ping-pong
and far-away cell effects using the MN’s
movement and its velocity. They give a brief
description of the mechanism without providing
any performance evaluation. J Pesola et all in [7]
present a location assisted algorithm to manage
handover between WLAN and GPRS networks.
III. PROPOSED METHOD:
Here, we propose to reduce the handover latency
by reducing the number of APs scanned by the
MN during the handover process. We utilize
Global Positioning System (GPS) to implement
our mechanism. The selection of the most
potential AP by the MN effectively reduces the
scanning delay, as the number of channels
scanned will be lower.
Figure 4
We assume hexagonal coverage area of an
AP with the AP situated at the center. Before
introducing the mechanism, we need to describe
certain parameters.
Let the approximate maximum handoff delay in
the scanning, authentication and re-association
phase of a single AP be tdelay ms as per the latest
proposed algorithm. The potential AP searches
can be made up to a certain distance after which
the MN performs the handover process. It is
because at this region the mobile handoff
procedure has to be started otherwise it may
suffer handoff failure. This region is the critical
handoff region as shown in figure 4.
As the mechanism starts, the instantaneous
velocity of the MN is assumed to be zero. In this
mechanism, the co-ordinates of the MN is
obtained using GPS repeatedly at an interval of
t=10ms. The GPS response time has been
discussed to be as low as 10 ns with an error of
at the most 30 cm. we add a further time to
analyze the co-ordinates and find certain other
parameters which we shall discuss shortly. Let
the total time required to find and analyze all
these parameters be ∆t. we will take τ= t delay + ∆t.
Significance of τ will be discussed shortly.
The cell size of the hexagonal cell is taken to
be a. The distance between two APs in urban
area is of the range 200 m to 500m. The entire
hexagonal cell is divided into 6 sectors with each
sector having an angle of 60°.

Figure 5
So it can be visualized as a two dimensional
space with the origin as the AP having 4
quadrants about it as shown in figure 5.
The algorithm of the mechanism is as follows:
1. Set n=1, t=10ms, τ= tdelay + ∆t.
2. Compute the coordinates of the MN
using GPS. Let at n-th interval the co-
ordinates of MN are P(xn,yn).
3. Compute the angle ‘ Θn ’ which OP
makes with the x-axis, given by
Θn=arctan(| yn/xn |), if xn>0, yn>0;
Θn=180°- arctan(| yn/xn |), if xn<0,
yn>0;
Θn=180°+ arctan(| yn/xn |),if xn<0,
yn<0;
Θn=360°- arctan(| yn/xn |), if xn>0,
yn<0;
4. Compute
Δxn = √((xn-xn-1)²+(yn-yn-1)²)),
vn=Δxn/t.
5. Calculate the length of the line segment
joining the AP to the cell edge along
Θn. since it depends on Θn only, we call
it f(Θn),which is given by,
f(Θn)=a*cos(30°)/cos(30°+60*m-Θn)
where, m=[Θn/60], [ ] being the greatest
integer function.
6. Calculate
dn=√(xn²+yn²)/f(Θn).
dn will be called the relative distance of
MN from AP. Its value is less than 1 if
MN is inside AP. Otherwise it is >1.
7. Compute
k= 1- 2*(vn)*(τ)/(a*√3).
8. Compare dn and k. If dn<k, set n=n+1.
Go to step 2.
9. Predict the co-ordinate (xf,yf) of MN at
the end of further time τ, assuming MN
follows the most recent trajectory and
speed. They are given by,
xf=xn*(τ/t+1)–(τ/t)*xn-1;
yf=yn*(τ/t+1)–(τ/t)*yn-1;
10. Find Θf based on (xf,yf) using formula
in step 3.
11. Depending on Θf, find the most
probable AP to which the MN is
heading.
If 0 ≤ Θf ≤ 60°, MN enters AP1;
If 60 ≤ Θf ≤ 120°, MN enters AP2;
If 120 ≤ Θf ≤ 180°, MN enters AP3;
If 180 ≤ Θf ≤ 240°, MN enters AP4;
If 240 ≤ Θf ≤ 300°, MN enters AP5;
If 300 ≤ Θf ≤ 360°, MN enters AP6;
12. Perform pre-scanning on the calculated
AP. We can also incorporate selective
channel scanning to further reduce the
scanning delay.
13. Find co-ordinates (xn+1, yn+1) of MN just
after the pre-scanning. Compute dn+1.
If dn+1<k, set n=n+1. Go to step 2.
14. Perform rest of the handoff procedure
on the pre-scanned AP.
In this algorithm, we calculate dn for each time
interval until dn becomes greater than k. k
signifies the relative distance from AP after
which the MN will have only τ ms before it
moves to another cell, if it goes at the current
instantaneous velocity in a perpendicular
direction towards the cell edge. In other words, k
is the relative distance at which the MN enters
the ‘critical handoff region’. After dn becomes
equal to k, we perform a pre-scan of the most
probable AP as given in step 11. Just after pre-
scanning, we further check if the MN is still in
the critical handoff region. We have earlier
allotted a time ∆t time for this operation. If it is
still in the region, we perform the authentication
and re-association. Otherwise, we continue the
algorithm. Here, we use the instantaneous
velocity and the latest trajectory to minimize the
error in prediction due to haphazard trajectory of
MN.
Thus, we see, it can reduce the handoff failure
probability by a small means by re-checking if
the MN is coming back. The simulation of
algorithm is provided in the next section with a the error in predicting the angle of MN after t
detailed performance evaluation which judges time interval is plotted with time in figure 11.
the suitability of this algorithm in real
conditions.

IV. SiMULATION RESULT:

We made a sample run of our algorithm to test

the functionality of it. We recreated our
algorithm for the handover of a MN from the cell
in which its call originates. The coverage region
of the AP is taken as regular hexagons of length
231m approx (which satisfy the topological
conditions of an AP in urban area). We assumed
that the MN follows a random trajectory and
after a certain time moves out of the cell, i.e, it
suffers handoff. At the end of the algorithm we
note the angle in which the MN may lie after
handover and we compared this with its actual
angle that it makes with the previous AP. The
result of this simulation justifies the
appropriateness of our algorithm.
All the coordinates are in meters and are
measured in reference to the present AP as the
Figure 6. Trajectory of MN
origin and axis shown as in Figure 4. The initial
speed of MN at the origin of call was taken as 20
m/s, and after the algorithm the average speed
was recorded as 18.7733 m/s. The average
handoff delay time was taken as 50 ms. We have
created a totally random trajectory of MN based
on real world consideration, so that on every
sample run we get a different trajectory. As
proposed, the algorithm to predict the AP stops
as the relative distance of AP gets larger than k.
At this point the predicted angle of MN after
handoff was found to be 27.6051 degrees which
corresponds to AP1. So only AP1’s channel may
be scanned during handover which does reduces
the handover latency to a great extent. After the
handover phase the recorded actual angle that the
MN makes with the previous AP is 27.6394
which also correspond to AP1. Thus this
signifies the appropriateness of our algorithm. A Figure 7. Variation of ‘k’ with time
set of sample runs were made by varying the
parameters such as cell coverage area or initial
velocity of MN and each time the AP was
predicted correctly. A graph showing the MN
trajectory in our primary sample run is shown in
figure 6. Variation of critical distance ‘k’ with
time is shown in figure 7. The variations of
acceleration and velocity of MN with time are
shown in figure 8 and figure 9 respectively. The
variation off the relative distance of MN until
handoff occurs is shown in figure 10. And finally
 Figure 8. Variation of Acceleration with time Figure 9. Variation of velocity with time

Figure 10. Variation of relative distance of MN Figure 11. Plot of error in predicting angle

V. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORKS: REFERENCES:

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES
Debabrata Sarddar is currently
pursuing his PhD at Jadavpur
University. He completed his
M.Tech in Computer Science &
Engineering from DAVV, Indore in
2006, and his B.Tech in Computer
Science & Engineering from Regional
Engineering College, Durgapur in 2001. He was
earlier a lecturer at Kalyani University. His
research interest includes wireless and mobile
system.
Arghya Sur is presently pursuing
B.Tech (2nd Year) in Electronics and
Telecommunication Engineering at Jadavpur
University, Kolkata. His research interest
includes wireless sensor networks and wireless
communication systems.
Arindam Jati is presently pursuing
B.Tech (2nd Year) in Electronics and
Telecommunication Engineering at Jadavpur
University, Kolkata. His research interest
includes wireless sensor networks and wireless
communication systems.
Sourajit Jash is presently pursuing B.Tech (2nd
Year) in Electronics and Telecommunication
Engineering at Jadavpur University, Kolkata.
His research interest includes wireless sensor
networks and wireless communication systems.
Utpal Biswas received his B.E,
M.E and PhD degrees in
Computer Science and
Engineering from Jadavpur
University, India in 1993, 2001
and 2008 respectively. He served
as a faculty member in NIT, Durgapur, India in
the department of Computer Science and
Engineering from 1994 to 2001. Currently, he is
working as an associate professor in the
department of Computer Science and
Engineering, University of Kalyani, West
Bengal, India. He is a co-author of about 35
research articles in different journals, book
chapters and conferences. His research interests
include optical communication, ad-hoc and
mobile communication, semantic web services,
E-governance etc.
Mrinal Kanti Naskar received his
B.Tech. (Hons) and M.Tech
degrees from E&ECE Department,
IIT Kharagpur, India in 1987 and
1989 respectively and Ph.D. from
Jadavpur University, India in 2006..
He served as a faculty member in NIT,
Jamshedpur and NIT, Durgapur during 1991-
1996 and 1996-1999 respectively. Currently, he
is a professor in the Department of Electronics
and Tele-Communication Engineering,
Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India where he is
in charge of the Advanced Digital and
Embedded Systems Lab. His research interests
include ad-hoc networks, optical networks,
wireless sensor networks, wireless and mobile
networks and embedded systems.
He is an author/co-author of the several
published/accepted articles in WDM optical
networking field that include “Adaptive
Dynamic Wavelength Routing for WDM
Optical Networks” [WOCN,2006], “A Heuristic
Solution to SADM minimization for Static
Traffic Grooming in WDM uni-directional Ring
Networks” [Photonic Network Communication,
2006],”Genetic Evolutionary Approach for
Static Traffic Grooming to SONET over WDM
Optical Networks” [Computer Communication,
Elsevier, 2007], and “Genetic Evolutionary
Algorithm for Optimal Allocation of
Wavelength Converters in WDM Optical
Networks” [Photonic Network
Communications,2008].