A seamless handoff in IEEE 802.16a and IEEE 802.11 n hybrid networks

Abstract

The future wireless Internet is expected to consist of different types of wireless networks with different coverage range. The hybrid network of WLAN and WMAN can take advantage of them to offer high quality service. We propose a scheme to make vertical handoff between IEEE 802.16a networks and IEEE 802.11n networks. The metrics are the bandwidth and the received signal strength index (RSSI). The scheme can reduce the unnecessary. handoff probability because of the received signal strength temporarily dropping. Mobile hosts stay in the IEEE 802.11n network as long as possible due to the higher bandwidth and better QoS. This handoff algorithm can be extended to other heterogeneous networks.