A location-based self-optimizing algorithm for the inter-RAT handover parameters

The Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a new radio access technology (RAT) which is currently being deployed on top of the second generation (2G) or third generation (3G) mobile networks. As a result, user equipments (UEs) will be handed over from one RAT to another. To improve the robustness of the inter-RAT handovers and reduce cost, self-organizing networks (SONs) are used to configure the inter-RAT handover thresholds in an automatic and autonomous way replacing the current manual optimization methods. The handover thresholds can be configured cell-specifically or cell-pair specifically where a dedicated handover threshold is configured with respect to each target cell of handover. However, both optimization paradigms can fail to resolve all mobility failure events in some cells where radio conditions are not stationary along the cell border. In this paper, we propose a new paradigm for configuring and optimizing the inter-RAT handover thresholds based on the locations of UEs in the cell. Simulation results show that the new paradigm outperforms cell-specific and cell-pair specific schemes by resolving additional numbers of mobility failure events.