{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T21:20:58Z","timestamp":1783113658808,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,22]],"date-time":"2024-03-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1711065600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A Hybrid LiFi and WiFi network (HLWNet) integrates the rapid data transmission capabilities of Light Fidelity (LiFi) with the extensive connectivity provided by Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), resulting in significant benefits for wireless data transmissions in the designated area. However, the challenge of decision-making during the handover process in HLWNet is made more complex due to the specific characteristics of electromagnetic signals\u2019 line-of-sight transmission, resulting in a greater level of intricacy compared to previous heterogeneous networks. This research work addresses the problem of handover decisions in the Hybrid LiFi and WiFi networks and treats it as a binary classification problem. Consequently, it proposes a handover method based on a deep neural network (DNN). The comprehensive handover scheme incorporates two sets of neural networks (ANN and DNN) that utilize input factors such as channel quality and the mobility of users to enable informed decisions during handovers. Following training with labeled datasets, the neural-network-based handover approach achieves an accuracy rate exceeding 95%. A comparative analysis of the proposed scheme against the benchmark reveals that the proposed method considerably increases user throughput by approximately 18.58% to 38.5% while reducing the handover rate by approximately 55.21% to 67.15% compared to the benchmark artificial neural network (ANN); moreover, the proposed method demonstrates robustness in the face of variations in user mobility and channel conditions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s24072021","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,22]],"date-time":"2024-03-22T05:10:53Z","timestamp":1711084253000},"page":"2021","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Optimizing Wireless Connectivity: A Deep Neural Network-Based Handover Approach for Hybrid LiFi and WiFi Networks"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Mohammad Usman Ali","family":"Khan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar 25120, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammad Inayatullah","family":"Babar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar 25120, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2159-865X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Saeed Ur","family":"Rehman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5042, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dan","family":"Komosny","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Telecommunications, Brno University of Technology, 601 90 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5375-8961","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter Han Joo","family":"Chong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Auckland 1010, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110301","DOI":"10.1007\/s11432-020-2955-6","article-title":"Towards 6G Wireless Communication Networks: Vision, Enabling Technologies, and New Paradigm Shifts","volume":"64","author":"You","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci. China Inf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"431","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bushor.2015.03.008","article-title":"The Internet of Things (IoT): Applications, Investments, and Challenges for Enterprises","volume":"58","author":"Lee","year":"2015","journal-title":"Bus. Horiz."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Besjedica, T., Fertalj, K., Lipovac, V., and Zakarija, I. (2023). Evolution of Hybrid LiFi\u2013WiFi Networks: A Survey. Sensors, 23.","DOI":"10.3390\/s23094252"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20","DOI":"10.1038\/s41928-019-0355-6","article-title":"What Should 6G Be?","volume":"3","author":"Dang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nat. Electron."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rehman, S.U., Ullah, S., Chong, P.H.J., Yongchareon, S., and Komosny, D. (2019). Visible Light Communication: A System Perspective\u2014Overview and Challenges. Sensors, 19.","DOI":"10.3390\/s19051153"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rahaim, M.B., Vegni, A.M., and Little, T.D.C. (2011, January 5\u20139). A Hybrid Radio Frequency and Broadcast Visible Light Communication System. Proceedings of the 2011 IEEE GLOBECOM Workshops (GC Wkshps), Houston, TX, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/GLOCOMW.2011.6162563"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1533","DOI":"10.1109\/JLT.2015.2510021","article-title":"What Is LiFi?","volume":"34","author":"Haas","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Light. Technol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"A35","DOI":"10.1364\/PRJ.5.000A35","article-title":"Towards 10 Gb\/s Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing-Based Visible Light Communication Using a GaN Violet Micro-LED","volume":"5","author":"Islim","year":"2017","journal-title":"Photon. Res. PRJ"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2890","DOI":"10.1109\/JSAC.2021.3064637","article-title":"Invoking Deep Learning for Joint Estimation of Indoor LiFi User Position and Orientation","volume":"39","author":"Arfaoui","year":"2021","journal-title":"IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Paramita, S., Srivastava, A., Bohara, V.A., Mitra, A., Atluri, H.K., and Paventhan, A. (2023, January 3\u20138). Demo of Hybrid LiFi\/WiFi Network for an Indoor Environment. Proceedings of the 2023 15th International Conference on Communication Systems & Networks (COMSNETS), Bangalore, India.","DOI":"10.1109\/COMSNETS56262.2023.10041414"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3204","DOI":"10.1109\/COMST.2019.2913348","article-title":"Visible Light Communication: Concepts, Applications and Challenges","volume":"21","author":"Matheus","year":"2019","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutor."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"56","DOI":"10.1109\/MCOM.2011.6011734","article-title":"Indoor Optical Wireless Communication: Potential and State-of-the-Art","volume":"49","author":"Elgala","year":"2011","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Mag."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Soltani, M.D., Kazemi, H., Safari, M., and Haas, H. (2017, January 19\u201322). Handover Modeling for Indoor Li-Fi Cellular Networks: The Effects of Receiver Mobility and Rotation. Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC), San Francisco, CA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/WCNC.2017.7925676"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1398","DOI":"10.1109\/COMST.2021.3058296","article-title":"Hybrid LiFi and WiFi Networks: A Survey","volume":"23","author":"Wu","year":"2021","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutor."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wu, X., and O\u2019Brien, D.C. (2020, January 7\u201311). A Novel Machine Learning-Based Handover Scheme for Hybrid LiFi and WiFi Networks. Proceedings of the 2020 IEEE Globecom Workshops, Taipei, Taiwan.","DOI":"10.1109\/GCWkshps50303.2020.9367577"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18955","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2022.3151858","article-title":"An Adaptive Handover Scheme for Hybrid LiFi and WiFi Networks","volume":"10","author":"Ma","year":"2022","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"176","DOI":"10.1109\/TWC.2006.1576541","article-title":"Vertical Handover-Decision-Making Algorithm Using Fuzzy Logic for the Integrated Radio-and-OW System","volume":"5","author":"Hou","year":"2006","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Wirel. Commun."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wang, Y., Wu, X., and Haas, H. (2016, January 22\u201327). Fuzzy Logic Based Dynamic Handover Scheme for Indoor Li-Fi and RF Hybrid Network. Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.","DOI":"10.1109\/ICC.2016.7510823"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1172","DOI":"10.1364\/JOCN.7.001172","article-title":"Efficient Vertical Handover Scheme for Heterogeneous VLC-RF Systems","volume":"7","author":"Wang","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Opt. Commun. Netw. JOCN"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Stevens-Navarro, E., Wong, V.W.S., and Lin, Y. (2007, January 11\u201315). A Vertical Handoff Decision Algorithm for Heterogeneous Wireless Networks. Proceedings of the 2007 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference, Hong Kong, China.","DOI":"10.1109\/WCNC.2007.590"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2008","DOI":"10.1109\/TVT.2008.2004588","article-title":"Dynamics of Network Selection in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks: An Evolutionary Game Approach","volume":"58","author":"Niyato","year":"2009","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1521","DOI":"10.1109\/LCOMM.2017.2654252","article-title":"Multi-Attribute Vertical Handover Decision-Making Algorithm in a Hybrid VLC-Femto System","volume":"21","author":"Liang","year":"2017","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Lett."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ma, G., Parthiban, R., and Karmakar, N. (July, January 30). Novel Handover Algorithms Using Pattern Recognition for Hybrid LiFi Networks. Proceedings of the 2022 IEEE Symposium on Computers and Communications (ISCC Rhodes), Rhodes, Greece.","DOI":"10.1109\/ISCC55528.2022.9912760"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3072","DOI":"10.1109\/COMST.2019.2924243","article-title":"Application of Machine Learning in Wireless Networks: Key Techniques and Open Issues","volume":"21","author":"Sun","year":"2019","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutor."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3163","DOI":"10.1109\/TVT.2019.2897134","article-title":"Deep Reinforcement Learning Based Resource Allocation for V2V Communications","volume":"68","author":"Ye","year":"2019","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alshaer, H., and Haas, H. (November, January 31). SDN-Enabled Li-Fi\/Wi-Fi Wireless Medium Access Technologies Integration Framework. Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE Conference on Standards for Communications and Networking (CSCN), Berlin, Germany.","DOI":"10.1109\/CSCN.2016.7784888"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2035","DOI":"10.1109\/JLT.2014.2315667","article-title":"High-Speed Bi-Directional Optical Wireless System in Non-Directed Line-of-Sight Configuration","volume":"32","author":"Cossu","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Light. Technol."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8211","DOI":"10.1109\/TWC.2020.3020160","article-title":"Smart Handover for Hybrid LiFi and WiFi Networks","volume":"19","author":"Wu","year":"2020","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Wirel. Commun."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1109\/JPHOT.2019.2953863","article-title":"Optimizing Handover Parameters by Q-Learning for Heterogeneous Radio-Optical Networks","volume":"12","author":"Shao","year":"2020","journal-title":"IEEE Photonics J."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yin, L., Wu, X., and Haas, H. (2015, January 6\u20139). Indoor Visible Light Positioning with Angle Diversity Transmitter. Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE 82nd Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC2015-Fall), Boston, MA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/VTCFall.2015.7390984"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"303","DOI":"10.1007\/BF02551274","article-title":"Approximation by Superpositions of a Sigmoidal Function","volume":"2","author":"Cybenko","year":"1989","journal-title":"Math. Control. Signal Syst."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alotaibi, N.M., and Alwakeel, S.S. (2015, January 9\u201311). A Neural Network Based Handover Management Strategy for Heterogeneous Networks. Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE 14th International Conference on Machine Learning and Applications (ICMLA), Miami, FL, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/ICMLA.2015.65"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ji, H., Wu, X., Wang, Q., Redmond, S.J., and Tavakkolnia, I. (2023). Adaptive Target-Condition Neural Network: DNN-Aided Load Balancing for Hybrid LiFi and WiFi Networks. IEEE Trans. Wirel. Commun.","DOI":"10.1109\/TWC.2023.3339503"},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"Ruder, S. (2017). An Overview of Gradient Descent Optimization Algorithms. arXiv."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"861","DOI":"10.1016\/j.patrec.2005.10.010","article-title":"An Introduction to ROC Analysis","volume":"27","author":"Fawcett","year":"2006","journal-title":"Pattern Recognit. Lett."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5375","DOI":"10.1109\/TCOMM.2017.2740211","article-title":"Access Point Selection for Hybrid Li-Fi and Wi-Fi Networks","volume":"65","author":"Wu","year":"2017","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Commun."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/24\/7\/2021\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T14:17:47Z","timestamp":1760105867000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/24\/7\/2021"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,22]]},"references-count":36,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,4]]}},"alternative-id":["s24072021"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s24072021","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,22]]}}}