Agent Based Vertical Handoff Decision Algorithm for Heterogeneous Wireless Networks

Internet service providers (ISP) are offering 4G network services through several wireless technologies such as WLAN, WiFi, WiMAX, LTE, etc. Thus, multimode devices will be able to manage communication links with different networks and support seamless mobility in these networks. To make decision for network selection during handoff, this paper proposes an Agent based vertical handoff decision algorithm that motivates users to periodically obtain the decision parameters and to identify optimal cost for decision function. The proposed handoff decision scheme uses agent technology. Link Monitoring Agent (LMA) is used to identify the decision parameter. The Handoff decisionmaking agent evaluates the decision function. These agents interact with each other in order to accelerate the handoff decision operation during vertical handoff. Keywords: 4G wireless networks, handoff decision function, heterogeneous wireless networks, mobile agents, vertical handoff decision.