Vertical Handover Management in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks

Dear Colleagues,

Vertical handover management (VHM) provides uninterrupted connection services in heterogeneous wireless networks (HWN). However, providing uninterrupted services in real-time networks such as in fast-moving vehicles scenarios and locations where fast connectivity cannot be provided is a challenging job. In this regard, IEEE proposed a new standard called the IEEE Media Independent Handover Standard 802.21 (IEEE 802.21 MIH) in 2008 to provide seamless and uninterrupted services in HWN. However, there are a number of challenges in the IEEE 802.21 MIH standard, such as considering received signal strength (RSS) for triggering handover and network selection, affected by the too-early and too-late handover, interoperability among heterogeneous networks, etc. Similarly, 5G and beyond 5G technologies aim to incorporate machine and deep learning techniques for fast handover management, location management, and data analytics related to enabling user-centric handover management. Therefore, in this Special Issue, we aim to give a deep insight into the latest research going on in the domain of VHM based on intelligent networking with theoretical and experimental analysis. Finally, research studies and findings related to the following points are welcome to the SI:

• Issues and challenges in enabling handover in 5G and beyond 5G technologies;
• User-centric handover management;
• Machine and deep learning techniques in handover management;
• Software-defined networking based-handover management;
• Data analytics related to handover management;
• Intelligent networking and mobility services;
• Handover over Internet technologies;
• Fast and seamless handover management;
• Geographical location management for fast handover services;
• Cell and cell-less vertical handover;
• Techniques to enable handover in vehicular networks;
• Management of vertical handover in IoT networks;
• Visualizing the handover traffic in a dense network scenario.

Dr. Murad Khan
Guest Editor

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