ACCEPTED FROM OPEN CALL
LTE-R Handover Point Control Scheme for
High-Speed Railways
Hyoungjun Cho, Sungjin Shin, Goeun Lim, Changsung Lee, and Jong-Moon Chung
Abstract
LTE-R is a new standard under development
to serve future high-speed railway systems (HSRs)
with reliable real-time train control and manage-
ment system support as well as passenger safety,
convenience, and infotainment services. The QoS
of LTE communications is significantly degraded in
HSRs due to rapid channel variations that exceed
the variation range of LTE systems, resulting in
delayed handover or handover failure due to radio
link failure. Therefore, a handover decision scheme
optimized for HSRs to ensure the QoS require-
ments for communications is necessary. In this arti-
cle, a new H2 scheme for HSRs is proposed, which
improves the handover performance of high-speed
moving LTE systems. The H2 scheme monitors the
reference signal received power variation level
of the serving evolved node B and handover tar-
get evolved node B to prevent late handover and
stably execute handover in rapidly changing con-
ditions. Simulation results demonstrate that the
proposed H2 scheme can significantly lower the
handover failure probability for HSRs compared to
the handover schemes currently used in LTE.
Introduction
Global System for Mobile Communications —
Railway (GSM-R) is the most widespread wire-
less communication protocol for train control and
management system (TCMS) services. However,
GSM-R is limited in transmission data rate and
time delay in delivering TCMS messages. In par-
ticular, for modern high-speed railway systems
(HSRs), GSM-R cannot support the required data
rates and time delays required by TCMS messag-
es, passenger safety signaling, and infotainment
services. Therefore, efforts have been made by
the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)
to standardize a Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based
standard for HSRs under the name of LTE for Rail-
way (LTE-R). LTE-R uses the 3GPP LTE core net-
work architecture and communication technology
and adds on service support for train control using
sensors, cabin security video, multimedia contents
for passengers, and many more features. Since
LTE-R supports various train and passenger safety
functionalities of the HSR, which travels at speeds
up to 350 km/h now and 500 km/h in the near
future, it is very important that the LTE-R network
can stay connected to the train at all times. This
is especially important in HSRs because the train
Digital Object Identifier: Hyoungjun Cho, Goeun Lim, Changsung Lee, and Jong-Moon Chung are with Yonsei University;
10.1109/MWC.2017.1600461 Sungjin Shin was with Yonsei University and is now with Samsung Electronics.
112 1536-1284/17/$25.00 © 2017 IEEE
moves very fast, and handover (HO) occurs very
frequently. Due to its importance, the Europe-
an Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI)
requires a minimum HO success rate of 0.995 for
railway communications [1]. Since LTE systems
do not consider the unique characteristics of HSR
wireless communications, the HO performance
of LTE systems cannot satisfy this requirement.
In HSRs, the signal strength between the serving
cell and user equipment (UE) decreases drasti-
cally due to the train’s high speed, which results
in a high packet loss rate (PLR) and significant
throughput degradation as well as HO delay or
failure. In this article, the performance of each
3GPP LTE HO procedure was analyzed to reveal
the performance degrading factors in HSRs. In
addition, a new high-speed HO (H2) scheme that
can reduce the PLR and satisfy the 0.995 mini-
mum HO success rate requirement of ETSI is pro-
posed in this article. The H2 scheme improves the
HO performance by using the unique character-
istics of the train’s movement along the railroad.
In the following sections, first the analysis of
the LTE HO procedure, LTE-R characteristics, and
reviews of related works are provided. Next, a new
HO decision scheme for HSRs is introduced fol-
lowed by performance analysis based on simula-
tion.
LTE HO is performed by the serving evolved
Node B (SeNB), and is classified into two types:
X2 and S1 HO. X2 HO is performed using the X2
interface, which provides a direct wired connection
between the SeNB and several neighboring eNBs.
S1 HO has more complicated HO procedures that
result in higher delay when the X2 interface cannot
be used. Since LTE-R networks with X2 interfac-
es between eNBs can provide more reliable and
faster HO path switching on the network side, it
is expected to be the recommended topology for
LTE-R deployments in the future, and is therefore
the network model considered for LTE-R in this arti-
cle.
The LTE HO procedure is composed of three
phases: HO preparation, HO execution, and HO
completion [2]. In the HO preparation phase,
the SeNB decides HO using the reference signal
received power (RSRP) values and initiates HO
through signaling between eNBs. Afterward, the
UE releases connection with the SeNB and makes
connection with the HO target eNB (TeNB) in the
HO execution phase. As the last step, the core net-
work entity path switching and bearer modifying
IEEE Wireless Communications • December 2017

Event HO entering condition
SeNB’s signal becomes stronger than threshold
A1
Ms>Thresh+Hys
SeNB’s signal becomes weaker than threshold
A2
Ms+Hys<Thresh
Neighboring cell’s eNB signal becomes stronger than
the SeNB’s signal by a margin of the offset value
A3
Mn+Ofn+Ocn>Ms+Ofs+Ocs+Off+Hys
Neighboring cell’s eNB signal becomes stronger than
the threshold
A4
Mn+Ofn+Ocn>Thresh+Hys
HO
HO decision operation
Signal strength
RSRP
measurement
Hys Time-to-trigger TPreHO HIT TPostHO Ocn
•••
Off
Ocs
Ofs
Ms
TMR
Event A3 HO operating
trigger point point
FIGURE 1. 3GPP LTE TS 36.331-based HO decision schemes and A3-based HO procedure.
procedures are operated in the HO completion
phase. On the other hand, the entire HO proce-
dure can be divided into two parts before and
after the HO operating point, which are the HO
decision and HO operation, respectively. The HO
decision part is the procedure in which the SeNB
decides on the optimal HO operating point, which
has variable delay depending on the channel con-
ditions. The HO operation part is the procedure
that changes the connected eNBs by exchanging
control messages. The HO operation part has a
relatively fixed delay and is rarely influenced by the
communication channel conditions. The specific
procedures of HO decision and operation are ana-
lyzed in the following.
Handover Decision
During the HO decision part, the SeNB decides
on the proper HO operating point depending on
the applied HO decision scheme. Figure 1 pres-
ents all X2 HO decision schemes specified in
3GPP TS 36.331 [2]. Each scheme decides the
HO operating point with a HO entering condi-
tion (EC) using the SeNB RSRP and TeNB RSRP.
When the RSRP values meet the entering con-
dition, the UE transmits the measurement report
(MR) to the SeNB. Additionally, event A6 uses the
IEEE Wireless Communications • December 2017
LTE handover procedure
Event HO entering condition
SeNB’s signal becomes weaker than threshold 1 and
the neighboring cell’s eNB signal becomes stronger
A5 than threshold 2
Ms+Hys<Thresh1; Mn+Ofn+Ocn>Thresh2+hys
Neighboring cell’s eNB signal becomes stronger than
A6 the threshold
Mn+Ocn-Hys>Msec+Ocs+Off
Inter-RAT’s signal becomes stronger than the
threshold
B1
Minter+Ofn>Thresh+Hys
SeNB’s signal becomes weaker than threshold 1 and
the inter-RAT cell’s signal becomes stronger than
B2 threshold 2
Ms+Hys<Thresh1; Minter+Ofn-Hys>Thresh2
Abbreviation
Mn is the measurement result of the neighboring cell
Ms is the measurement result of the serving cell
Msec is the measurement result of the secondary cell
Ofn Minter is the measurement result of the inter-RAT cell
Mn
Hys is the hysteresis parameter for the event
Thresh is the threshold parameter
Ocn is the cell specific offset of the neighbor cell
Ocs is the cell specific offset of the serving cell
Off is the offset parameter for this event
HO
RSRP Ofn is the frequency specific offset of the neighbor cell
gap Ofs is the frequency specific offset of the primary cell
Tmea is the period of the signal strength measurement
TPreHO is the pre-handover delay
TPostHO is the post handover delay
HIT is the handover interruption time
Time
secondary cell’s RSRP because it considers carrier
aggregation, and B1 and B2 use the inter-radio
access technology (inter-RAT) cell’s received sig-
nal strength, which is commonly used in handover
between RATs.
Among the HO decision schemes, event A3
is the most widely used HO decision scheme
because it has the most stable performance. Fig-
ure 1 shows the event A3 HO procedures. The
UE measures the neighbor eNB’s RSRP periodi-
cally (Tmea) and reports the RSRP measurement
result of the SeNB (Ms) and the neighbor eNB
(Mn) to the SeNB through MR when the entering
condition is satisfied. The instant EC is satisfied
(event A3’s trigger point), event A3 is triggered.
Next, to prevent unnecessary HOs, HO is held for
the time to trigger (TTT). During TTT, if the RSRP
values do not satisfy the HO leaving condition
(LC) of Mn + Ofn + Ocn + Hys < Ms + Ofs + Ocs
+ Off, the UE sends a report to the SeNB, and
the SeNB operates HO by sending a Handover
Request message to the TeNB at the end of
the TTT period. The instant that the SeNB sends
a Handover Request message is defined as
the HO operating point. From the HO operating
point, the SeNB exchanges control messages with
the TeNB to execute HO. However, if the mea-
113
 sured RSRP value satisfies the HO LC before TTT
expires, HO will be canceled.
The HO decision part is severely affected by
the wireless channel condition because the RSRP
is used as a HO decision parameter, and control
messages are transmitted through the wireless
channel. In HSRs, due to the high speed of the
trains, the RSRP from the SeNB can experience
rapid variations that exceed the variation range of
LTE systems, resulting in radio link failure (RLF) with
the SeNB before HO is executed, which will result
in HO delay or failure.
Handover Operation
In the HO operation part, control messages
are exchanged among the UE, SeNB, and TeNB
as specified in 3GPP TR 25.912 [3] and shown
in Fig. 2. After the SeNB sends a Handover
Request message, TeNB replies with a Hando-
ver Request ACK, and the Handover Com-
mand message is transmitted from the SeNB to the
UE. Afterward, the UE disconnects the SeNB and
connects to the TeNB. The time delay between the
UE Source eNB Target eNB
HO operating point and the SeNB disconnection is
referred to as the pre-HO delay, and the time delay
between the SeNB disconnection and TeNB con-
nection is referred to as the HO interruption time
(HIT), which is the time during which the UE can-
not exchange any messages [4]. In this article, the
difference between the SeNB’s RSRP before HIT
and the TeNB’s RSRP after HIT is defined as the
HO RSRP gap (GapHO), as shown in Fig. 1b. The
GapHO can be used as an evaluation parameter
for HO performance in LTE-R. The measurement
results in the next section show that LTE systems
experience RLF because the HO operating point
is not designed to cope with the rapid channel
variations experienced in HSR environments. This
results in a large GapHO in HSR supporting LTE
systems, which is the motivation of the proposed
H2 technology for LTE-R systems. As soon as the
UE receives a Handover Confirm ACK message
from the TeNB, the UE starts to transmit data to the
TeNB. Next, the core network entity path switching
and bearer modification procedures are executed
to complete the HO operation. The HO comple-
tion signaling and processing delay is referred to as
the post-HO delay.

LTE-R Network Characteristics and

Measurement
report Related Works
HO event trigger LTE-R Network Characteristics
Due to the significantly high speed of trains in
Comparing EC or TC with
HSRs, the UE will experience rapid signal strength
degradations that may extend out of the normal
Handover
TTT

SeNB & TeNB

decision

reference signal received power operation range of LTE systems. This phenome-
connection

HO preparation

non is experimentally demonstrated based on LTE

SeNB

HOevent
operation
measurements conducted in HSRs presented in
HO trigger
Fig. 3.
HO request Figure 3 shows the LTE measurements of an
SeNB and a TeNB’s RSRPs during HO, which
Pre-HO delay

HO request ACK was measured in South Korea’s HSR Korea Train

eXpress (KTX) between Seoul and Daejeon, which
HO command is a 158.53 km distance. The LTE network is based
on 3GPP Release 8, and the UE is a Samsung Gal-
axy Note 1 that is equipped with a Qualcomm
Disconnection
source eNB Scorpion 1.5 GHz dual-core system and a Qual-
Synchronization comm MSM8660 LTE modem. The RSRPs are
measured using a Qualcomm eXtensible Diagnos-
RACH waiting tic Monitor (QxDM).
Handover interruption time

RACH preamble When the train is traveling at 50 km/h, the last

HO execution

RSRP measurement before HO execution was

Handover operation

Preamble
interruption

–58.25 dBm, resulting in a GapHO of 9.25 dB.

Handover

detection
and processing However, when the train is traveling at 300 km/h,
RA response the last RSRP measurement before HO execu-
tion was –77.38 dBm, resulting in a GapHO of
Decoding of 32.13 dB. The high speed of the train induces
RA response late HO, which results in low RSRP and large
Handover confirm GapHO. The low RSRP with the SeNB induces
a high error rate, which can result in an RLF. The
ACK ETSI standards require a 0.995 minimum HO suc-
cess rate (i.e., less than a 0.005 failure rate) since
the RLF induced TCMS message loss can severely
threaten passenger safety. In addition, the large
Post-HO delay

Path switch and

connection

GapHO is an indicator that the TCMS is connect-

completion

modify bearer
TeNB

ed to the lower-quality communication channel

HO

with S-GW, MME

and P-GW instead of one of the better communication chan-
nels. Therefore, a new HO decision scheme for
HSRs is required in order to minimize the PLR and
satisfy ETSI’s 0.995 minimum HO success rate
FIGURE 2. LTE X2 HO signaling procedure requirement.

114 IEEE Wireless Communications • December 2017

 -40 -40

-45 -45

-50 -50 TeNB RSRP

HO RSRP gap after HO
-55 (9.25 dB) -55 (-45.25 dBm)
RSRP (dBm)

RSRP (dBm)
-60 TeNB RSRP -60
after HO HO RSRP gap
SeNB RSRP (-49.0 dBm) (32.13 dB)
-65 before HO -65
(-58.25 dBm)
-70 -70 SeNB RSRP
before HO
(-77.38 dBm)
-75 -75

-80 -80

-85 -85
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Time (s) Time (s)
(a) (b)

FIGURE 3. Measured LTE HO RSRP gap for an HSR at a) 50 km/h; b) 300 km/h.

Ref Features Advantages Disadvantages

Scheduling and resource allocation mechanism by A decrease in HO latency and a Optimized cell array and moving
[5]
predicting upcoming cells for seamless HO increase in throughput eNB required

Keeping multiple heterogeneous network links at Maintaining connection within one Multiple heterogeneous mobile
[6]
the same time link HO network connection required

Dual-link architecture using two antennas on HSR HO failure probability and commu- Totally redesigned LTE HO proce-
[7]
for seamless HO nication interruption time reduction dure for dual-link architecture

Optimization of [7] by investigating the hysteresis

Overhead reduction and QoS Totally redesigned LTE HO proce-
[8] exceeding level and the signal strength of both
improvement dure for dual-link architecture
antennas

Enhanced measurement procedure and group HO decision and operation delay Additional measurement and
[9]
in-network HO reduction grouping process
TABLE 1. High-speed railway LTE communication related works.

Related Works (Table 1) failure probability and the communication inter-

In order to improve the HO performance in LTE
for HSRs, several research efforts have been
made. In [5], the cells along a railway are orga-
nized to be supported by femtocell services based
on a cell array, which predicts upcoming LTE cells
and allows seamless HO when the moving direc-
tion and speed of the train are known. However,
the scheme requires a special custom cell array
and an additional moving eNB. The authors of
[6] propose multi-RAT, which enables a train to
connect to two or multiple heterogeneous mobile
networks. Keeping one link connection during the
HO of other links enhances the HO performance.
However, the scheme needs to simultaneously
use multiple heterogeneous mobile networks. A
seamless HO scheme based on a dual link archi-
tecture is proposed in [7]. The dual link (which
uses front and rear antennas) can decrease the
interruption time during HO. The front antenna
processes HO to the TeNB, while the rear anten-
na maintains connections to the SeNB. Bi-casting
eliminates overhead and delay of data forward-
ing from the SeNB to the TeNB. The authors of
[8] use the hysteresis exceeding level and the sig-
nal strength of both antennas to reduce the HO
ruption probability compared to [7]. However,
the LTE handover procedures have to be totally
redesigned to support the dual-link architecture
used in [7, 8]. In [9], a HO scheme is proposed
for HSR mobile relays, which improves the mea-
surement and group in-HO that can reduce HO
operation delay. However, the scheme requires
additional measurements and a grouping process.
A common issue is that the schemes of [5–9]
cannot satisfy ETSI’s 0.005 HO failure rate limit and
also require significant system modifications to be
implemented. Compared to this, in the following
sections it is demonstrated that the proposed H2
scheme can satisfy ETSI requirements while requir-
ing only small modifications to the conventional
LTE HO procedures.
Proposed H2 Scheme for HSRs
In this section, the operation of the proposed
H2 scheme is presented. The H2 scheme was
designed to avoid HO delay or failure due to the
SeNB’s RSRP entering the RLF condition before
the HO operating point is reached and HO is exe-
cuted. The relations between the HO parameters
of the proposed scheme are illustrated in Fig. 4.
The H2 scheme is similar to the event A4 HO in

IEEE Wireless Communications • December 2017 115

 1 FOR each Measurement
TTT expiration 2 GET RSRP information from Measurement
operates HO 3 IF (H2Trigger ==0) & & (Mn + Ofn + Ocn > RTrig + Hys) THEN
(H2 and A4) 3.1 SET H2Trigger =1, Trigger Duration = 1
RSRP
Hys TTT TPreHO HIT 4 ELSE IF H2Trigger ==1 THEN
Off 4.1 IF Mn + Ofn + Ocn + Hys < RTrig THEN
Ocs 4.1.1 SET H2Trigger = 0
Ocn 4.2 ELSEIF Mn + Ofn + Ocn > Ms + Ofs + Ocs +Off + Hys
Ofs
Ofn THEN
Ms Mn
4.2.1 PERFORM Handover Operation
4.3 ELSE
HO RSRP gap 4.3.1 TriggerDuration ++
RTrig Hys (H2 and A4) 4.3.2 IF Trigger Duration > TTT THEN
4.3.2.1 PERFORM Handover Operation
H2 and A4 Time
H2 and A4 ALGORITHM 1. H2 handover decision scheme.
trigger point operating
point
(a) condition (OC), as shown in Fig. 4b, where the H2
scheme prevents late HO and enables better com-
TTT expiration munication channel selection, resulting in a smaller
RSRP OC operates HO GapHO even at very high speeds. In pseudo-code
operates HO (A4)
(H2)
form, the H2 scheme’s operational procedures are
Ocn described in Algorithm 1.
TPreHO
Hys HIT The proposed H2 scheme operates when the
Ofn
Off UE measures an eNB cell’s RSRPs (step 1). The
TPreHO HIT
Ocs UE obtains the RSRP measurement results of the
TTT Mn
Ofs SeNB (Ms) and TeNB (Mn) (step 2). Next, if the
H2 scheme is not triggered (H2Trigger==0), the UE
checks whether the RSRP satisfies the EC or not
Ms (step 3). The H2 scheme’s EC Mn + Ofn + Ocn >
RTrig + Hys is designed to determine the instant that
the sum of Mn, Ofn, and Ocn becomes greater
than the sum of the H2 scheme’s triggering thresh-
HO old (RTrig) and Hys. The EC only considers the UE’s
HO
Hys RSRP gap
RSRP gap communication capability with the TeNB, because
RTrig (A4) the SeNB’s RSRP decreases and the TeNB’s RSRP
(H2)
increases definitely, as the train moves along the
railway. If the EC is satisfied, the UE sends a report
to the SeNB, and the SeNB triggers the H2 scheme
(H2Trigger=1) and starts to record the HO trigger
duration (TriggerDuration=0) to check whether TTT
expires or not (step 3.1).
H2 scheme H2 scheme Event A4 Time
trigger operating operating In case the H2 scheme has already been trig-
point point point gered (H2Trigger==1) (step 4), the UE checks
whether the H2 LC Mn + Ofn + Ocn + Hys < RTRig
(b)
is satisfied or not (step 4.1). If the LC is satisfied,
another report is sent and HO is cancelled (H2Trig-
FIGURE 4. Examples of the H2 scheme, event A4 HO procedures, and param-
ger = 0) (step 4.1.1). If the LC is not satisfied, the
eters when the HSR train is moving at: a) low speeds; b) high speeds.
SeNB continues the HO process. In the current
LTE HO decision schemes, the SeNB holds HO for
respect that it compares the neighbor eNB’s RSRP the TTT duration to prevent premature HO due to
and triggering threshold when triggering HO. How- channel condition misjudgment. However, in rapid-
ever, the H2 scheme has two HO decision cases ly changing conditions, the holding delay, TTT, can
based on the degree of RSRP variation to make result in unnecessary HO delay or HO failure due
proper HO operating point decisions. The degree to signal loss of the SeNB. In LTE-R networks, the
of RSRP variation depends on the train’s speed. Fig- high speed of the train and a variety of changes in
ure 4 shows HO procedures and the parameters of surroundings (e.g., tunnel, viaduct, and buildings)
the H2 scheme compared to event A4. Figure 4a cause rapid channel condition changes. Regard-
represents the case when the train is moving at low less of changes in channel conditions of the HSR,
speeds, in which the RSRP of the SeNB decreases the LTE-R network has to guarantee communica-
gradually such that the SeNB operates HO after tion reliability of real-time TCMS message transfer
the TTT expires. In this case, HO is executed when and passenger safety signaling. To accomplish this
the TTT expires, which is the normal HO oper- objective, the proposed H2 scheme operates HO
ating procedure in current LTE systems. The H2 before the TTT expires when the OC is satisfied by
scheme’s HO procedures at low speeds are the comparing the SeNB’s and TeNB’s RSRP. Based on
same as event A4 HO. However, when the HSR the measured RSRP, it is checked if the OC Mn +
train is moving at high speeds, the SeNB’s RSRP Ofn + Ocn > Ms + Ofs +Ocs + Off + Hys is satisfied
will decrease rapidly which will cause a late HO in (step 4.2). If the condition is satisfied, UE sends an
event A4. In the H2 scheme, the SeNB executes OC report to the SeNB, and the SeNB immediately
HO before the TTT expires using the HO operating performs HO even if the TTT has not expired (step

116 IEEE Wireless Communications • December 2017

 The large GapHO is
Parameters Value x10-3 an indicator that the
H2(700 MHz): 41.9 m
Carrier frequency 700/850 MHz 10 H2(850 MHz): 57.3 m TCMS is connected
Distance between eNBs 1,000 m A3(700 MHz): 168.8 m to the lower quality

Handover operation success pdf

A3(850 MHz): 185.6 m
8
eNB height 30 m A4(700 MHz): 273.4 m communication chan-
A4(850 MHz): 296.0 m
Distance between eNB and rail 10 m
6
nel instead one of the
Train antenna height 5m better communication
eNB transmit power 38 dBm 4 channels. Therefore,
Offsets 3 dB a new HO decision
Outage threshold -80 dBm 2
scheme for HSRs is
HO scheme trigger threshold -65 dBm
0 required in order to
Time-to-trigger 1280 ms
-400 -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400 minimize the PLR and
Shadow fading deviation 4 dB Distance from optimal HO operating point satisfy ETSI’s 0.995
(a) (b)
minimum HO success
x10-3 x10-3 rate requirement.
H2(700 MHz): 78.1 m H2(700 MHz): 93.5 m
10 H2(850 MHz): 94.1 m 10 H2(850 MHz): 110.5 m
A3(700 MHz): 243.1 m A3(700 MHz): 291.7 m
Handover operation success pdf

Handover operation success pdf

8 A3(850 MHz): 240.6 m 8 A3(850 MHz): 276.5 m
A4(700 MHz): 345.7 m A4(700 MHz): 385.9 m
A4(850 MHz): 338.7 m A4(850 MHz): 371.4 m
6 6

4 4

2 2

0 0
-400 -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400 -400 -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400
Distance from optimal HO operating point Distance from optimal HO operating point
(c) (d)
35
A4 (700 MHz) A4 (850 MHz)
A3 (700 MHz) 30 A3 (850 MHz)
30 H2 (700 MHz) H2 (850 MHz)
25
Avg. HO RSRP gap (dB)

Avg. HO RSRP gap (dB)

25
20
20

15 15

10 10

5 5
0
0
50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Speed (km/h) Speed (km/h)
(e) (f)

100 100

0.995 0.995
Handover failure probability

Handover failure probability

A4 (700 MHz)
10-5 A3 (700 MHz) 10-5
H2 (700 MHz)
A4 (850 MHz)
A3 (850 MHz)
10-10 10-10 H2 (850 MHz)

10-15 10-15
50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Speed (km/h) Speed (km/h)
(g) (h)

50 km/h 150 km/h 350 km/h 500 km/h 50 km/h 150 km/h 350 km/h 500 km/h
A4 8.37x10-13 1.22x10-4 3.75x10-2 0.16 A4 0.20 0.60 0.83 0.90
A3 2.89x10-15 5.58x10-7 3.74x10-3 3.45x10-2 A3 2.18x10-3 0.13 0.45 0.61
H2 1.33x10-15 6.66x10-16 4.44x10-16 1.64x10-14 H2 6.55x10-15 2.55x10-15 1.58x10-8 6.53x10-6

FIGURE 5. H2 scheme performance analysis of: a) Simulation parameters; b), c) and d) HO operation
success probability in reference to HSR speeds; e) and f) Average GapHO; g) and h) HO failure proba-
bility.

IEEE Wireless Communications • December 2017 117

For all speeds and
frequencies tested, the
H2 scheme was able to
satisfy the ETSI require-
ments by a stable
margin, which demon-
strates its suitability for
LTE-R networks. This is
because the H2 scheme
makes a handover deci-
sion when the channels
between the UE and
eNBs maintain stable
channel conditions that
do not cause HO mes-
sage exchange to fail.
118
4.2.1). The OC prevents the SeNB from unneces-
sarily holding on to the UE before executing HO
in addition to enabling execution of an immediate
HO to the TeNB with sufficient signal strength at
the right time. However, in gradually changing con-
ditions, the SeNB needs to hold HO to prevent
premature HO. Therefore, if the OC is not satis-
fied (step 4.3), the SeNB increases the TriggerDu-
ration (step 4.3.1) and checks whether the TTT has
expired or not (step 4.3.2). When the TTT expires,
the SeNB performs HO (step 4.3.2.1) even if the
OC is not satisfied. The simulation results in the fol-
lowing section show that the proposed H2 scheme
helps to reduce HO failure and time delay in HSRs.
Simulation Results
In this section, the performance of the H2 scheme
in an LTE-R network is compared to the event A3
and A4 HO schemes through extensive simulations
carried out in MATLAB. The simulation is based
on an LTE physical layer and data link layer model
supporting LTE and HSR message communica-
tion. The simulation modeling includes the road-
side eNB and OBU exchange of HO and TCMS
messages according to Fig. 2. The message trans-
mission success probability depends on signal
strength, which changes according to the speed
and distance between the eNB and UE. In this arti-
cle, it is assumed that the HO operation success
when the SeNB operates HO before the SeNB’s
RSRP falls below the outage threshold. LTE HO
events A3 and A4 were selected for comparison
with H2 because event A3 is the most commonly
used HO decision scheme, and event A4’s EC is
similar to H2’s EC. In the simulation, A3, A4, and
H2’s average HO operating point, GapHO, and
handover failure probability are observed in the
following simulation environment. The train runs in
a single direction on the railway, and the eNBs are
uniformly installed alongside the railway. The 700
and 850 MHz carrier frequency bands used in the
simulation are the most likely candidate frequency
bands for LTE-R, and are used in commercial LTE
networks worldwide, where the maximum eNB
transmission power is 38 dBm according to 3GPP
TS 36.104 [10]. The simulation model is based on
a log-normally distributed multipath shadow fading
channel (based on the fading channel model rec-
ommended by 3GPP in [3]) with inter-carrier inter-
ference and Doppler frequency shift [7] applied
including the Okumura-Hata open area path loss
model for train speeds of 50 500 km/h [11]. A
summary of the other simulation parameters is pre-
sented in Fig. 5a.
Compared to the other schemes, the H2
scheme shows better performance in every simu-
lation environment. The H2 scheme can deal with
the HSR’s rapid channel condition change prop-
erly by using EC and OC. From Figs. 5b, 5c, and
5d, the HO operation success probability density
function is based on train speeds of 150, 350, and
500 km/h, each of which is plotted as a function
of the optimal HO operating point. The numerical
figures in the legend boxes represent the differenc-
es between the average HO operating points of
each scheme and the optimal point, which is the
crossing point of the SeNB’s and TeNB’s RSRPs.
Events A3 and A4 operating points show lag due
to making late HO decisions. In addition, the differ-
ences between the optimal point and the average
HO operating point of events A3 and A4 become
larger as the train’s speed increases. However, the
H2 scheme makes a HO decision near the opti-
mal point. The H2 scheme results in a smaller dif-
ference at every speed tested. Moreover, the H2
scheme provides robustness against speed varia-
tions. At high speeds, it is observed that the total
HO success rates decrease. The variation of the
difference between 150 ∼ 500 km/h of the H2
scheme (41.9 ∼ 93.5 m at 700 MHz and 57.3 ∼
110.5 m at 850 MHz) is smaller than the event A3
(168.8 ∼ 291.7 m at 700 MHz and 185.6 ∼ 276.5
m at 850 MHz) and A4 (273.4 ∼ 385.9 m at 700
MHz and 296.0 ∼ 371.4 m at 850 MHz), which
demonstrates that the H2 scheme results in very
stable performance regardless of significant speed
changes compared to the other schemes.
Figures 5e and 5f shows the average GapHO,
which can be calculated using the average HO
signaling delay. The large GapHO represents late
or early HO. To compute the average GapHO,
the pre-HO delay and HIT model are needed.
As shown in Fig. 2, during the pre-HO delay,
the SeNB sends a Handover Request to the
TeNB after the HO operation has been execut-
ed. The TeNB replies to the SeNB with a Hando-
ver Request ACK, and then the SeNB sends
a Handover Command to the UE. The HO signal-
ing delays are specified in 3GPP TR 25.912 [3].
From this point, the HIT, which is the time required
to release connection with the SeNB and make
connection to the TeNB, is initiated. The HIT delay
model is provided in previous research [4]. As the
HSR speed increases, the GapHO increases due
to the improper HO decision. In all speeds in the
range of 50 ∼ 500 km/h, the H2 scheme shows
a significantly smaller GapHO compared to the
event A3 and A4 schemes used in LTE since the
H2 scheme makes a HO decision near the optimal
point. Furthermore, the variation in the GapHO of
the H2 is much smaller than the increments that
are observed by the event A3 and A4 schemes.
Figures 5g and 5h show the HO failure rate
based on the speed of the HSR in log-scale, and
also include tables of the HO failure probabilities.
The HO failure rates of the event A3 and A4 LTE
HO schemes show significant increments as the
train speed increases, and the red colored values
in the tables are the values that do not satisfy the
ETSI LTE-R HO failure rate requirement of 0.005 for
HSR support of TCMSs. In the 700 MHz system,
the event A3 and A4 schemes do not satisfy the
requirements when the train is operated above 368
km/h and 242 km/h, respectively. Moreover, at 850
MHz, the ETSI requirements cannot be satisfied for
speeds above 58 km/h and 50 km/h when using
the A3 and A4 schemes, respectively. On the other
hand, for all speeds and frequencies tested, the H2
scheme was able to satisfy the ETSI requirements by
a stable margin, which demonstrates its suitability
for LTE-R networks. This is because the H2 scheme
makes a HO decision when the channels between
the UE and eNBs maintain stable channel condition
that do not cause HO message exchange to fail.
Conclusion
In this article, the characteristics of HSR wire-
less communications based on LTE systems
are investigated, and the H2 scheme for LTE-R
networks is proposed. In the 700 MHz carrier
IEEE Wireless Communications • December 2017
frequency band, the LTE HO decision schemes
events A3 and A4 do not satisfy the LTE-R HO
failure rate limit of 0.005 (required by ETSI) for
HSR support of TCMSs above 368 km/h and
242 km/h, respectively. To solve this problem,
the proposed H2 scheme makes improved HO
point decisions to prevent late HO or HO failure
caused by rapid channel condition variations in
HSRs. The H2 scheme is triggered using a TeNB
RSRP threshold and executes HO when the TTT
expires or the OC is satisfied. As a result, the H2
scheme makes improved HO operating point
decisions satisfying the LTE-R HO failure rate
limit of 0.005 for HSR support of TCMS even at
speeds of 500 km/h.
Future research needs to be extended into HSR
optimized HO signaling procedures between the
UE and core network to minimize HO delay. This
is because HO delay has a significant influence on
the network’s performance, as cells are becoming
smaller and high-speed transportation services are
becoming more abundant.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Institute for Infor-
mation & Communications Technology Promo-
tion (IITP) grant funded by the Korea government
(MSIP) (2017-0-00282, The Development of
Adaptive Network Technology with Multi-Media
Multi-Path).
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[3] 3GPP TR 25.912 v12.0.0, “Feasibility Study for Evolved
Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) and Universal
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Additional Reading ence on the network’s
[1] 3GPP TS 36.133 v12.14.0, “Technical Specification Group
Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio performance, as cells
Access (E-UTRA); Requirements for Support of Radio are becoming smaller
Resource Management (Release 12),” Jan. 2017.
[2] 3GPP TS 36.521, “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access and high-speed trans-
(E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE) Conformance Specification portation services are
Radio Transmission and Reception Part 1: Conformance
Testing,” v. 12.9.0 Mar. 2016. becoming more
abundant.
Biographies
HyoungJun Cho (soarer@yonsei.ac.kr) received a B.S. degree
from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Yonsei
University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. He is currently a Ph.D. pro-
gram graduate student in the School of Electrical and Electronic
Engineering as a research member of the Communications and
Networking Laboratory (CNL) at Yonsei University. His research
focuses on LTE, NR(5G), IoT networks, and MPTCP.
Sungjin Shin (sjin.shin@samsung.com) received B.S., M.S., and
Ph.D. degrees from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engi-
neering, Yonsei University. He is currently a software engineer
at Samsung Electronics, Korea. His research interests include
artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, mobile wireless net-
works, and horizontal/vertical handover.
Goeun Lim (gelim@yonsei.ac.kr) received a B.S. degree from the
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Yonsei Univer-
sity. She is currently an M.S. program graduate student in the
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering as a research
member of the CNL at Yonsei University. Her research focuses
on LTE, LTE-A, NR(5G), and CA.
Changsung Lee (onlyvine@yonsei.ac.kr) received a B.S. degree
from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Yonsei
University. He is currently pursuing an M.S. degree in the School
of Electrical and Electronic Engineering as a researcher with the
CNL at Yonsei University. His research interests include LTE, NR
(5G), handover, and MPTCP.
Jong-Moon Chung (jmc@yonsei.ac.kr) received B.S. and M.S.
degrees in electronic engineering from Yonsei University and a
Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Pennsylvania State Universi-
ty. Since 2005, he has been a professor in the School of Electri-
cal and Electronic Engineering, Yonsei University. From 1997 to
1999, he was an assistant professor and instructor at Pennsylva-
nia State University. From 2000 to 2005, he was with Oklahoma
State University as a tenured associate professor. He is an Editor
of IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Section Editor of
Wiley’s ETRI Journal, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of KSII Transactions
on Internet and Information Systems.
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