Dynamic handoff parameters in a wireless network

1. A method implemented by a mobile device, the method comprising:

determining, by the mobile device, one or more applications being executed by the mobile device;

determining, by the mobile device and from a plurality of sets of handoff parameters stored at the mobile device, a set of handoff parameters, relating to performance of a handoff operation in a cellular network, where the set of handoff parameters is determined based on the one or more applications being executed by the mobile device and a Quality of Service (QoS) Classification Index (QCI) associated with the one or more applications, wherein the one or more handoff parameters include a hysteresis threshold value, and wherein the hysteresis threshold value specifies an amount by which a received signal power of a neighboring cell in the cellular network must be greater than a received signal power of a cell to which the mobile device is connected before a handoff operation is initiated; and

initiating, by the mobile device, the handoff operation based on the one or more handoff parameters.

2. The method of claim 1 , where the set of handoff parameters is received from a device in the cellular network.

3. The method of claim 1 , further including:

adjusting the hysteresis threshold value based on quality of service (QoS) requirements of the one or more applications being executed by the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 3 , where the hysteresis threshold value is adjusted to be lower for applications requiring a high QoS and higher for applications requiring a lower QoS.

5. The method of claim 1 , where the one or more applications being executed by the mobile device include a plurality of applications, and where the method further includes:

selecting one of the plurality of applications to use in determining the set of handoff parameters, the selected one of the plurality of applications being associated with a highest quality of service (QoS) requirement.

6. The method of claim 1 , where initiating the handoff operation includes:

transmitting an indication of received signal power to the cellular network; or

transmitting a handoff request to the cellular network.

7. The method of claim 1 , where determining the one or more handoff parameters includes:

determining the set of handoff parameters as a set of handoff parameters, selected from the plurality of sets of handoff parameters, based on a current state of the cellular network.

8. A device comprising:

a communication interface to connect to a cellular network;

a processor; and

a memory to store programming instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

determine one or more applications being executed by the device;

identify, from a plurality of sets of handoff parameters, a set of handoff parameters, relating to performance of a handoff operation in the cellular network, where the handoff parameters are identified based on the one or more applications being executed by the device and a Quality of Service (QoS) Classification Index (QCI) associated with the one or more applications, wherein the one or more handoff parameters include a hysteresis threshold value, and wherein the hysteresis threshold value specifies an amount by which a received signal power of a neighboring cell in the cellular network must be greater than a received signal power of a cell to which the device is connected before a handoff operation is initiated; and

initiate the handoff operation, based on the one or more handoff parameters, to cause the communication interface to connect to a different cell in the cellular network.

9. The device of claim 8 , where the one or more applications being executed by the device include a plurality of applications, and where the programming instructions additionally include programming instructions to cause the processor to:

select one of the plurality of applications to use in identifying the set of handoff parameters, the selected one of the plurality of applications being associated with a highest quality of service (QoS) requirement.

10. The device of claim 8 , where the programming instructions to identify the one or more handoff parameters additionally include programming instructions to cause the processor to:

identify the set of handoff parameters as a set of handoff parameters, selected from the plurality of sets of handoff parameters, based on a current state of the cellular network.

11. A method implemented by a mobile device, the method comprising:

determining, by the mobile device, one or more characteristics relating to a cellular wireless access network to which the mobile device connects;

determining, by the mobile device, a set of handoff parameters, selected from a plurality of sets of possible handoff parameters, relating to performance of a handoff operation in the cellular wireless access network, where the set of handoff parameters is determined based on a Quality of Service (QoS) Classification Index (QCI) associated with one or more applications being executed by the mobile device and the one or more characteristics, and wherein each set of possible handoff parameters, of the plurality of sets of possible handoff parameters, includes a corresponding hysteresis threshold value; and

initiating, by the mobile device, a handoff operation based on the determined set of handoff parameters and the hysteresis threshold value that corresponds to the determined set of handoff parameters, wherein the hysteresis threshold value that corresponds to the determined set of handoff parameters specifies an amount by which a received signal power of a neighboring cell in the cellular wireless access network must be greater than a received signal power of a cell to which the mobile device is connected before the handoff operation is initiated.

12. The method of claim 11 , where the characteristics include a historical measure of ping-ponging, by the mobile device, between cells in the cellular wireless access network.

13. The method of claim 11 , where the characteristics include an indication of whether cells in the cellular wireless access network are associated with different mobility management entity (MME) devices.

14. The method of claim 11 , where determining the set of handoff parameters includes adjusting one or more handoff parameters based on the characteristics.

15. The method of claim 11 , where determining the set of handoff parameters further includes determining the set of handoff parameters based on the one or more applications being executed by the mobile device.

16. A mobile device comprising:

a communication interface to connect to a cellular network;

a processor; and

a memory to store programming instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

determine one or more characteristics relating to the cellular network to which the mobile device connects;

determine a set of handoff parameters, selected from a plurality of sets of possible handoff parameters, relating to performance of a handoff operation in the cellular network, where the set of handoff parameters is determined based on a Quality of Service (QoS) Classification Index (QCI) associated with one or more applications being executed by the mobile device and the one or more characteristics, and wherein each set of possible handoff parameters, of the plurality of sets of possible handoff parameters, includes a corresponding hysteresis threshold value; and

initiate a handoff operation based on the determined set of handoff parameters and the hysteresis threshold value corresponding to the determined set of handoff parameters to cause the communication interface to connect to a different cell in the cellular network, wherein the hysteresis threshold value that corresponds to the determined set of handoff parameters specifies an amount by which a received signal power of a neighboring cell in the cellular network must be greater than a received signal power of a cell to which the mobile device is connected before the handoff operation is initiated.

17. The mobile device of claim 16 , where the characteristics include a historical measure of ping-ponging, by the mobile device, between cells in the cellular network.

18. The mobile device of claim 16 , where the characteristics include an indication of whether cells in the cellular network are associated with different mobility management entity (MME) devices.

19. The mobile device of claim 16 , where the instructions to determine the set of handoff parameters further includes instructions to cause the processor to:

adjust one or more handoff parameters based on the characteristics.

20. The mobile device of claim 16 , where the instructions to determine the set of handoff parameters further includes instructions to cause the processor to determine the set of handoff parameters based on the one or more applications being executed by the mobile device.