A Handoff Algorithm based on Link Quality Prediction for Mass Transit Wireless Mesh Networks

In recent years, wireless mesh networks have become a popular solution for a wide range of scenarios because of their flexibility, reliability and fast deployment. In particular, in the context of providing network connectivity to mass transit vehicles, wireless mesh networks are often preferred to cellular networks because they allow custom network deployments. However, when high mobility is involved, an efficient handoff procedure is of paramount importance to ensure seamless connectivity. In this work, we propose a handoff procedure for wireless mesh networks which exploits a forecasting technique to predict link channel quality. The proposal is assessed by means of simulation and compared with existing solutions. Results demonstrate that our proposal outperforms existing algorithms and provides an overall link quality which is close to the optimal.