Handover Optimality in Heterogeneous Networks

TL;DR

This paper presents a new theoretical framework using fractional Gittins indices for optimal handover decisions in heterogeneous networks, demonstrating near-optimal bandwidth performance through numerical analysis.

Contribution

It introduces fractional Gittins indices as a novel approach to optimize handover procedures in heterogeneous networks.

Findings

Policy achieves within 12% of optimal bandwidth in practice.

Median deviation from optimal bandwidth is about 2%.

The framework simplifies decision-making in complex handover scenarios.

Abstract

This paper introduces a new theoretical framework for optimal handover procedures in heterogeneous networks by devising the novel fractional Gittins indices, which are dynamical priorities whose values can be statically associated to the decision states of evolving processes representing handover alternatives. The simple policy of activating at any time the one process currently at highest priority optimizes the bandwidth of a handover, if all other inactive processes remain idle. However, numerical evidence shows that in practice this condition can be relaxed for a wide range of handover models, because the bandwidth actually achieved by the policy never deviates for more than 12% from the optimally achievable bandwidth and remains in median within a deviation of 2% from this optimum.