Factors affecting network handover on mobile devices

People are constantly on the move and in consistent need of communication. Mobile devices and internet connectivity have now become an integral part of our way of living. To best accommodate the moving person, mobiles need to switch between available networks in an attempt to avoid a break in connection. In an effort to minimise a break in connection and optimise handover, an improved location-based handover algorithm can be developed, taking advantage of cheaper, faster internet and modern day mobile processing. Such a system could map wireless networks and upload data to a server from users as they travel throughout their day to day life. This data may then be processed into an optimised model that can be downloaded as a user passes through an area, improving upon the decisions made by the algorithm. The benefits that could be gained out of mapping networks are currently not known and modern day technology may or may not be suitable to collect high-quality data necessary to produce an accurate model. This leads to the primary focus of this project which is to determine the quality of data that can be collected from a mobile device and how a model produced using this data could benefit the algorithm. Through the development of a system which mirrors its data collection capabilities, the merits of the collected data is analysed to determine the feasibility and benefits the development of this improved location-based handover algorithm. In this project, it is discovered that the data may not be of high enough quality, yet particular situations were found to be potentially beneficial to the algorithm.