Handoff Probability in Wireless Networks Over Rayleigh Fading Channel: A Cross-layer Approach

Handoff probability is one of the significant metrics to characterize the handoff operation in wireless mobile networks. Handoff probability refers to the probability that an Mobile Station (MS) will handoff to a neighboring cell without call completion upon the instant arriving at the border of the serving cell. In the literature for developing the metrics, the physical fading channel is not taken into account. In addition, the tele-traffic parameters are usually simplified as exponential distributed variables for the sake of analytical tractability. In this paper, by proposing a new cross-layer approach, we formulate the closed-form result for the handoff probability under the Rayleigh fading scenario. In particular, the results could demonstrate the explicit relationship between the handoff probability and the physical link characteristics, e.g. carrier frequency, maximum Doppler frequency and fade margin. In addition, the formulae is developed with the generalized tele- traffic parameters for the aim of general applicability. The numerical investigations demonstrate that the fading channel has a substantial impact on handoff probability.