Future Internet (FI) scenarios envisage ubiquitous broadband coverage and seamless mobility, enabling the availability of personalized network connectivity at all places and with a high quality of service (QoS). In such a heterogeneous and complex environment, vertical handover (VHO) management is key for achieving the connectivity objectives, but also presents several challenges. In surveying this topic, this paper takes a direction that extends the state-of-the-art: By incorporating concepts of autonomic network management (ANM), in particular the self-management and cognitive functionalities therein, to VHO management, this paper sheds new light to VHO operations from an ANM point of view, encompassing FI environments and the emerging fifth generation networks. In doing so, the survey identifies the main concepts and provides a taxonomy of relevant architectural components. Based on this taxonomy, a number of important autonomic features are identified, each one promoting the system’s self-optimization along a certain direction toward the overall enhancement of the VHO operations. Another contribution of this paper is the consideration of robustness in VHO decision making (i.e., achieving stable decisions under uncertainty) and a discussion of the relation between robustness factors and the autonomic features previously introduced. The general concepts developed in this paper are applied to representative state-of-the-art handover management solutions with autonomic characteristics. These specific solutions are presented, analyzed, and correlated according to the proposed taxonomy and criteria, culminating to conclusions that provide useful insights toward future, further enhanced solutions.

中文翻译：

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未来互联网环境中异构网络的自主切换管理：一项调查

未来的互联网 (FI) 场景设想无处不在的宽带覆盖和无缝移动，从而在所有地方实现个性化网络连接并提供高质量的服务 (QoS)。在这样一个异构和复杂的环境中，垂直切换 (VHO) 管理是实现连接目标的关键，但也提出了一些挑战。在调查这个主题时，本文采取了一个扩展最新技术的方向：通过将自主网络管理 (ANM) 的概念，特别是其中的自我管理和认知功能，纳入 VHO 管理，本文摆脱了从 ANM 的角度来看，VHO 运营的新亮点，包括 FI 环境和新兴的第五代网络。在这样做，该调查确定了主要概念并提供了相关建筑组件的分类。基于此分类法，确定了许多重要的自主特征，每个特征都沿着某个方向促进系统的自我优化，以实现 VHO 操作的整体增强。本文的另一个贡献是考虑 VHO 决策中的鲁棒性（即在不确定性下实现稳定的决策），并讨论了鲁棒性因素与之前介绍的自主特征之间的关系。本文中开发的一般概念适用于具有自主特性的代表性最新切换管理解决方案。根据提议的分类法和标准，提出、分析和关联这些具体的解决方案，