Implementations of suboptimal handoff algorithms for wireless communication systems

Various suboptimal handoff algorithms for cellular communication systems based on signal strength measurements are proposed and implemented. Performance of the algorithms is evaluated as a function of the expected number of handoffs, the expected handoff delay, and the expected number of signal degradations. Some of the algorithms require information about the relative distance between the mobile and the base stations, which must be estimated from signal strength measurements. Various location estimators are proposed, and the quality of these estimates are assessed by computing the Cramer-Rao bounds on the estimation error. Simulation results indicate that the suboptimal delay-handoff algorithm using the proposed distance estimator provides the best handoff-delay tradeoff curve among the available handoff algorithms