Local averaging for fast handoffs in cellular networks

We propose a local averaging technique for processing the received pilot signal strength, which can significantly improve handoff performance in cellular networks. In handoff algorithms, the received pilot signal strength is typically averaged to diminish the undesirable effect of the fast fading component. Unfortunately, the averaging process can substantially alter the characteristics of path loss and shadowing components, causing increased handoff delay. The proposed local averaging method provides significant improvement for handoff delay performance, especially in the non-line-of-sight case, when the mobile station turns around a corner. An important feature of local averaging is that the handoff performance is insensitive to the speed of the mobile station, such that velocity estimation is not needed. We develop efficient numerical procedures to compute the handoff performance metrics under local averaging.