Evaluation of Inter-Frequency Quality Handover Criteria in E-UTRAN

In E-UTRAN multiple co-located carriers will typically be deployed requiring efficient inter-frequency (IF) handover procedures and algorithms for retaining service quality, better coverage and load balancing between the carriers. Five IF handover criteria using RSRP, RSRQ or combination thereof are investigated in synchronous and asynchronous E-UTRAN deployment scenarios. The results depict that an IF handover solely based on RSRP significantly increases number of handovers. Conversely the handover criterion based only on RSRQ reduces handovers but it slightly increases the packet loss rate. The overall best performance is achieved with the combined handover criterion, which uses both RSRP and RSRQ and thus guarantees that the received pilot strength as well as the signal quality stays within the desired limit after the handover.