The 14” IEEE 2003 International Symposium on Persona1,lndoorand Mobile Radio Communication Proceedings
Performance Analysis of Vertical Handover in a
UMTS-WLAN Integrated Network
Hongyan Bing, Chen He and Lingge Jiang
Department of Electronic Engineering. Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Shanghai 200030. China
{hybing, chenhe} @sjtu.edu.cn
AI~srrncf-The 4C wireless communication system is envisioned
to integrate cellular network (e.g. UMTS) and wireless LAN
(WLAN), in virtue of the individual coverage and capacity
complementary characteristics. This paper describes a possible
architecture integrating UMTS and 802.11 WLAN a t SGSN. A
functional entity, network interwork unit (NIU), i s placed
between the SGSN a n d WLAN access network side to hide the
WLAN particularities. I n this integrated architecture, M o b i l e IP
based vertical handover management increases the
heterogeneous system signaling cost as well as handover latency,
so one major task in the handover design is to reduce the
unnecessary handover probability. This paper presents an
analytical vertical handover initiation model based on the criteria
o f received signal strength (RSS) and distance. T h e handover
performance evaluation criterion of interest is the handover
probability. T h e numerical results show that our model is i n line
with the real cases when the distance between the base station
(BS) o f UMTS cell and the access point (AP) of WLAN is long or
not.
Kql~wcircl.~--heterog.eiieous networh, irttegmtion. vertical
/iitndoverq“ d y i c c t l niodel, perforinnnce
I. INTKODUC I ION
The nest generation network will enable different access
networks to interoperate with each other to ensure global
mobility and service continuity. The deployment and
integration of both land mobile UMTS network and WLAN are
necessary thanking for the individual coverage and capacity
complementary characteristics of the two radio technologies.
Operators with cellular network could add WLAN as an
additional service, enabling them to provide their customers
with the broadest coverage and access possibilities for voice,
data and multimedia services, especially for the areas where
there is a high density of users.
The main concept of the integration of UMTS and WLAN
is to achieve a ubiquitous coverage across two radio
technologies. The users can choose the best available
connection for the application they are using at the active time.
This cal Is for efficient interworking mechanisms between
UMTS cellular networks and WLAN. Several approaches have
been proposed for interworking networks. The European
Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) specifies two
generic approaches for inteiworking [I]: loose coupling and
tight coupling. The Third Generation Partnership Project
(3GPP) has specified sis interworking scenarios [2]. Reference
[3] also describes five different architectures for implementing
handover between GPRS and 802. I I WLAN networks.
Notable references to other interworking architectures are also
could be found in [4-6], etc.
0-7803-7822-9/03/$17.0002003 IEEE.
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In this paper we propose an architecture integrating
UMTS and 802.11 WLAN at SGSN, what is called tight-
coupling architecture in some articles, in which we introduce a
functional entity, network interwork unit (NIU), placed
between the SGSN and WLAN access network side to hide the
WLAN particularities. The interworking mechanism can
effectively combine two access networks. However, Mobile IP
based vertical handover protocol increases the heterogeneous
system signaling cost and produces high handover delay. So
one major task in the handover design is to reduce unnecessary
handover rate and calls-dropping probability.
This paper presents an analytical vertical handover
initiation model based on received signal strength (RSS) and
distance criteria. The handover performance evaluation criteria
of interest is handover probability and calls-dropping
probability, but only handover probability is evaluated here for
space limitation. The remaining part of this paper is organized
as follows. In Section 11, the interworking architecture of
UMTS and WLAN is described with introducing the entity
NIU. Section 111 details the vertical handover initiation
analytical model based on RSS and distance criteria.
Numerical evaluation of handover probability is given i n the
next section together with analyses. Finally, Some conclusions
are provided in Section V.
11. HETEROGENEOUS
NETWORK
ARCHITECTURE
In UMTS [7], RNCs and Node Bs constitute the radio
access network (RAN), called UMTS RNS. Each Node B
constitutes a cluster of base stations and a group of Node Bs is
connected to a single RNC. The packet core network (CN),
evolved from the GPRS core network, is comprised of SGSN
and GGSN. As for the integration, WLAN can be connected to
either RNC, or SGSN, or GGSN [6].However, connecting the
WLAN at RNC requires revision of complex radio procedures
implemented at RNC because the two radio interfaces are
totally different. Alternatively, connecting the WLAN at
GGSN suffers a delay handover because the SGSN needs to
recreate mobility state and the session (PDP) contexts. So we
choose the SGSN as the integration point for our integrated
architecture. Fig. 1 shows the proposed architecture
configuration. To the SGSN, WLAN is regarded as one type of
radio access network (RAN) while the UMTS RNS as a second
type of RAN. This system requires less modification of
existing access networks.
Mobile station in Fig.1 is a multiple-mode mobile station
(MMS) supporting both UMTS and WLAN access in a
 The 14thIEEE 2003 International Symposium on Persona1,lndoorand Mobile Radio Communication Proceedings
Fig. I .The integrated architecture configuration
seamless fashion. The key functional entity in the system is the
network interwork unit (NIU), which is connected to a serving
GPRS support node (SGSN) and WLAN access point (AP),
assuming only one WLAN cell is considered to interwork with
cellular cells here. The main function of the NIU is to provide a
standardized interface to the core network and hide the WLAN
particularities. So the NIU should provide the functions such as
data encapsulation, signaling transferring. With the bridging
aid of NIU, the transport UMTS signaling and data over
WLANs comes true.
111. UMTS-WLAN VERTICAL HANDOVER
The term vertical handover originates from overlay
networks [SI, where different networks are mutually overlaid
offering different size of coverage. Traditional handover
(horizontal handover) is simply migrating within the same
network and vertical handover refers to the handover across
two cells from different networks. Furthermore, the generalized
vertical handover is regarded as the handover from one
wireless access technology to another. As an example in our
work, vertical handover refers to the handover between UMTS
cell and WLAN. We are aware that the current vertical
handover proposal is mostly based on Mobile IP protocol,
which is a generic technique to perform handover of IP traffic
between IP subnets. With the help of bi-tunneling and routing
optimization, it solves most of triangular routing and firewall
traversal problems and is well suited to do vertical handover
[6]. However, the lumping signaling across networks for
vertical handover will increase the handover delay and call-
dropping probability.
This section presents an analytical vertical handover model
and we focus on the vertical handover probability analyses in
the next section. Vertical handovers in our system fall into two
directions: handover from UMTS cell to WLAN and handover
from WLAN to UMTS cell. Two stages are included during a
vertical handover initiation process: handover gathering
information stage and handover decision stage. In the handover
gathering information stage, various parameters used for
handover decision-making are continuously monitored by both
the network and mobile terminal (MT). In the handover
decision stage, the handover target direction is chosen based on
the predefined criteria. Handover in both directions can be
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based on various parameters such as signal level, the distance
between MT and BSIAP, the active user’s moving velocity and
the current network load, etc. For analysis simplicity, we
assume that the user is moving along a straightaway and the
network load is not heavy, so only signal level and distance
criteria are considered in our model. In addition, because
WLAN can provide users more bandwidth at lower cost,
handover to WLAN should be done with high priority although
cellular network coverage is available everywhere.
A. RSSCriterion .
The channel propagation model used for RSS is given by
[91[w
RSS(d)= Pt - P L ( d ) + f ( p , ~ )dBm (1)
where Pt is the transmit power and PL(d) is the path loss at
distance d and f ( p , a ) is a Gaussian random variable with
mean ,U and standard deviation CT modeling shadow fading. In
this model, the effect of fast fading is neglected since the
samples of RSS are averaged. CT depends on the environment
with values between 6-12 dB. The path loss at distance d is
given by
P L ( d ) = S + 10. n.log(d) dB (2)
where S is the path loss constant depends on propagation
environment and n is the path loss exponent with values
between 2-4. Fig.2 (a) and (b) illustrate the RSS on cellular link
and WLAN link respectively.
We assume that the user locates in the area of WLAN
where is also overlaid by three UMTS cells (Cell 1, Cell 2 and
Cell 3), as shown in Fig.3. The total number of surrounding
channels monitored by the MT during the call is three cellular
links plus one WLAN link. If an active MT in Fig.3 is using
UMTS cell link, it’s obvious that RSS on Cell 1 link is
maximal among the surrounded three UMTS cells, i.e.
{ ri,(x) = mas [-r : , ( x ) , k = 11
1,2,3 (31
So we regard Cell I as the candidate.
A simple situation is considered that the BS - A P direction
is the horizontal axis direction along which the user is moving
with velocity v . The distance from AP to BS 1 is denoted
asDAP-BS. When an active MT is locating at position x, let
- -
r,(x) and r,(x) be the respective received signal level
averaged over the UMTS radio link and the WLAN radio link.
They can be described to have a lognormal distribution if
__
represented in decibels [ I 11, thus we have q , ( x )
-
-
N [Y, -
(x), 0; 1 and r, (XI N [p, ( x ) , 0; I , in which P,/
and U
,,
are the mean signal levels, and and 0, are the shadowing
- -
standard deviations of v,, ( x ) and r, ( x ) . If the initial standard
deviation on each link is ao0 and owe, after an average over N
samples, the relations of the standard deviation before and after
average on each link are given by [ 1 11
 The 14mIEEE 2003 International Symposium on Persona1,lndoorand Mobile Radio Communication Proceedings

z? -40 .'
?6 -60-
(0

-80 -

Distance fa cellular cell RS ( m )

-100
0
' 20 40 60 80 3
,04 Distance 10 WLAN AP ( m

(a) (b)
F i g 2 RSS on UMTS cell link and WLAN link (a): UMTS cell link; (b): WLAN link

distribution tdn - N [0,$,, ] , where ot,,,,is the standard

deviation. Thus, if an MT has a distance d from the BS, the
measured distance d,, is also a stationary random process with
mean d and variance (where c is the speed of light),
and the distance distribution is also normal [ I I ] , i.e.
du - Nl-d,(cotd,,l21 .
C. Vertical Handover Analytical Model
We notice that the measured criteria of signal level and
distance for both RAN cannot be directJy compared since the
monitored links come from different access networks, so
different thresholds of two access technologies are defined
respectively. Therefore, we assume R(/ and Rw are the RSS
handover thresholds on the satellite radio link and the WLAN
U
radio link, D(, and Dware the distance handover threshold.
Fig 3. Heterogeneous network integrating UMTS and WLAN Handover from the UMTS cell 1 to WLAN will occur when
the following relation is satisfied,

Because we give high priority to WLAN, handover in this

y r iand yw;are the correlation coefficients that determine the
decaying rate of the correlation on different channels. do is the
distance between two locations used to calculate the correlation.
direction will occur without considering the RSS and the
distance criteria on UMTS cell link once condition (8) is
satisfied. Fig.4 illustrates the procedure of handover from
UMTS cell to WLAN.
On the other hand, when the active MT is using WLAN link,
handover from WLAN to UMTS cell 1 will occur when the
following relation is satisfied,
[a< R,,] and

E. Distance Criterion

We know that MT's timing advance parameter [I21 is

calculated based on the measurement of the signal delay
between the MT and the BS. The delay measurement is
generally composed of the real delay and measurement
noise td,? .i We assume that measurement noise tdn is a
stationary zero-mean random process with normal
HO criteria in this direction should consider the criteria of RSS
and the distance on UMTS link, in other words, the RSS on cell
link should be beyond the handover threshold R(/ and the
distance to BS should be below the handover threshold D(,
when UMTS cell is to be the target network. Fig.5 illustrates
the procedure of handover from WLAN to UMTS cell.

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 The 14'h IEEE 2003 International Symposium on Persona1,lndoor and Mobile Radio Communication Proceedings
. I C ~ IonI UMTS link I I
I-ianctover execution J
Fig.4 IJMTS-to-WLAN handover initiation procedure
D. Vertical Handover Probability
Based on (S), < l - - t M , ( ~ ~,) the probability to initiz
handover to WLAN on position x can be given by
Similarly based on (9), 4r;+ci(x),the probability to initiate
the handover from WLAN to UMTS cell 1 on position x can
also be given by
4V4J(XI = 4 ( X I . p2 (XI
where f', (x)and p2(x) are calculated by
Furthermore. in this handover direction when taking different
D,-Ip-Bs into account we can obtain two scenarios as follows:
I ) When the distance D-Ip-Bs is far less than the distance
handover threshold of UMTS link, that is
D, P- BS << Du
the RSS and distance criteria for the UMTS cell are
unnecessary because the probability of [TJI(x) 2 R ( / ]
almost always equal to 1 when the user is near to the BS. The
same is true of the probability of [U',! 5 D o ] in this scenario.
So the handover condition in (1 1 ) reduces to a condition only
on the RSS on WLAN link. namely,
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Call on W L A N link 1
2 the
ves Ir
I Handover execution I
Fig.5. WLAN-to-UMTS handover initiation procedure
(1 1)
2 ) When the user is far from the BS, i.e., DAp-Bs is
comparable with the distance threshold of UMTS link, the both
criteria of the UMTS cell should be considered because they
are both contributing factors for handover decision-making.
IV. NUMERICAL
RESUI TS
In Fig6 (a) and (b), we plot the probabilities of handover
from UMTS cell to WLAN based on (10). Handover
probabilities are calculated under two conditions, e.g.,
handover is either initiated only by RSS criterion, or initiated
by both RSS and distance criteria. The simulation parameters
from [IO] and [ 1 I ] are used. Fig. 6 (a) illustrates the handover
probabilities under the first condition against the distance
between the user and AP as a variable. Fig.6 (b) illustrates the
handover probabilities under the second condition. By the
comparison of these two figures, we can observe that when
(14) distance criterion is taken into account, the handover
probabilities are smaller than those only based on RSS criterion.
As a resdlt, a trade-off between computational complexity and
is a smaller handover probability can be pursued by considering
the distance criterion or not.
Based on (1 1-13) and (15), the probabilities of handover
from WLAN to UMTS cell are calculated and the results are
shown in Fig7 (a) and (b). Probabilities are calculated
according to different handover conditions: when DAP-BS is
190
 The 14mIEEE 2003 International Symposium on Persona1,lndoor and Mobile Radio Communication Proceedings

09

021 l
o 200 400 GOO 800 iooo
Distance to WL4N A.P( x 0.1m )

(a) (b)
Fig.6. Probabilities of handover from UMTS cell to WLAN (a): RSS criterion; (b): RSS and distance criteria

0 35
x

5 03
=
0)

8 0 25
c
2 02
U
U
$ 0 15
A=
L
0 01
r

zh

0 05

Fig.7. Probabilities of handover from WLAN to UMTS cell (a): one RAN; (b): both RANs

far less than D[,, handover model only based on RSS on
WLAN link is used. Contrarily, handover model based on the
criteria of both RANs are used. Fig.7 (a) illustrates the
handover probabilities only based on the criterion of RSS on
WLAN link. Fig.7 (b) illustrates the handover probabilities
based on the criteria of two RANs. Comparing Fig.7 (a) with
Fig.7 (b), we can draw the following conclusions: when
D4p-Bs is far less than threshold Dli, the probability
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I-
ot ti,, ( A) 5
1
R,,, dominates the handover probability fh,+(,
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v. CONCLUSION
An integrated architecture of UMTS and WLAN has been
described. in which a network intenvork unit (NIU) is
introduced to hide the WLAN particularities. Based on the
advanced analytical vertical handover model, the paper focuses
011 the performance evaluation of the handover probability.
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