Coverage analysis and handover strategy in RF/VLC heterogeneous networks

Area of Science:

• Wireless communication networks
• Stochastic geometry modeling
• Coverage analysis

Background:

• Coverage analysis in heterogeneous networks (HetNets) is challenging due to user mobility and diverse association strategies.
• Existing models often fall short in accurately predicting performance in hybrid visible light communication (VLC) and radio frequency (RF) environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel framework, contact probability and coverage approximation based on association strategy (CPCA-AS), for analyzing coverage probability (CPr) in hybrid VLC/RF HetNets.
• To evaluate the impact of different association strategies on network coverage.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a stochastic geometry framework to model RF-only, VLC-only, and hybrid RF/VLC scenarios.
• Incorporated a contact probability mechanism and analyzed opportunistic VLC and maximum received signal power (MRSP) association strategies.
• Employed Gil-Pelaez inversion theorem and Laplace transforms for VLC CPr approximation, and Markov and Gamma inequalities for RF lower bounds.

Main Results:

• CPCA-AS accurately models coverage performance and captures the influence of photodetector field-of-view (FoV) on interference and association.
• Validated through Monte Carlo simulations, demonstrating improved CPr.
• Opportunistic VLC strategy excels in high-interference/large FoV; MRSP is better in low-interference/low-rate settings.

Conclusions:

• CPCA-AS provides a robust method for coverage analysis in complex HetNets.
• The choice of association strategy significantly impacts coverage performance, with specific strategies being optimal under different network conditions.