With the new 5G trend, the amount of heterogeneous networks (HetNets) has increased exponentially. Cooperation between the most commonly used HetNets such as: WiFi and Long Term Evolution (LTE) is required to ensure a balanced traffic load which benefits the end user with maximum throughput and high quality of service. A balanced traffic problem with WiFi- LTE heterogeneous wireless networks is selecting which network to use, LTE or WiFi, if both are available. In other words, a node would have to send/receive traffic using either LTE or WiFi. We address this issue and propose both a WiFi available bandwidth estimation technique called “Available Bandwidth with Error Probability (ABEP)” and a traffic steering strategy to improve the performance of WiFi-LTE wireless networks. Our approach provides a better estimation of available bandwidth in WiFi with respect to relevant bandwidth estimation techniques. The bandwidth utilization in a WiFi Network is obtained at an initial stage of the traffic steering strategy. The steering of traffic is then triggered depending on events and the network conditions. Different from other approaches, our proposed traffic steering algorithm considers both a minimum bandwidth and a minimum SNR threshold to connect to WiFi, which are necessary to have an efficient transmission. One of the benefits of our approach regards reducing the use of the LTE network and its corresponding monetary charges.

随着5G新趋势的到来，异构网络（HetNets）的数量呈指数级增长。需要在最常用的 HetNet 之间进行合作，例如：WiFi 和长期演进 (LTE)，以确保平衡的流量负载，从而以最大吞吐量和高质量服务使最终用户受益。WiFi-LTE 异构无线网络的一个平衡流量问题是选择使用哪个网络，LTE 还是 WiFi，如果两者都可用的话。换句话说，节点必须使用 LTE 或 WiFi 发送/接收流量。我们解决了这个问题，并提出了一种称为“具有错误概率的可用带宽（ABEP）”的 WiFi 可用带宽估计技术和一种流量导向策略，以提高 WiFi-LTE 无线网络的性能。我们的方法相对于相关带宽估计技术提供了对 WiFi 中可用带宽的更好估计。WiFi 网络中的带宽利用率是在流量转向策略的初始阶段获得的。然后根据事件和网络条件触发流量控制。与其他方法不同，我们提出的流量转向算法同时考虑了连接到 WiFi 的最小带宽和最小 SNR 阈值，这是有效传输所必需的。我们方法的好处之一是减少 LTE 网络的使用及其相应的货币费用。然后根据事件和网络条件触发流量控制。与其他方法不同，我们提出的流量控制算法同时考虑了连接WiFi的最小带宽和最小SNR阈值，这对于有效传输是必不可少的。我们方法的好处之一是减少 LTE 网络的使用及其相应的货币费用。然后根据事件和网络条件触发流量控制。与其他方法不同，我们提出的流量转向算法同时考虑了连接到 WiFi 的最小带宽和最小 SNR 阈值，这是有效传输所必需的。我们方法的好处之一是减少 LTE 网络的使用及其相应的货币费用。