MIPv6 Experimental Evaluation using Overlay Networks

The commercial deployment of Mobile IPv6 has been hastened by the concepts of Integrated Wireless Networks and Overlay Networks, which are present in the notion of the forthcoming generation of wireless communications. Individual wireless access networks show limitations that can be overcome through the integration of different technologies into a single unified platform (i.e., 4G systems). This paper summarises practical experiments performed to evaluate the impact of inter-networking (i.e. vertical handovers) on the Network and Transport layers. Based on our observations, we propose and evaluate a number of inter-technology handover optimisation techniques, e.g., Router Advertisements frequency values, Binding Update simulcasting, Router Advertisement caching, and Soft Handovers. The paper concludes with the description of a policy-based mobility support middleware (PROTON) that hides 4G networking complexities from mobile users, provides informed handover-related decisions, and enables the application of different vertical handover methods and optimisations according to context.Publicad

Framework to facilitate smooth handovers between mobile IPv6 networks

Fourth generation (4G) mobile communication networks are characterised by heterogeneous access networks and IP based transport technologies. Different access technologies give users choices to select services such as levels of Quality of Service (QoS) support, business models and service providers. Flexibility of heterogeneous access is compounded by the overhead of scanning to discover accessible services, which added to the handoff latency. This thesis has developed mechanisms for service discovery and service selection, along with a novel proposal for mobility management architectures that reduced handoff latency. The service discovery framework included a service advertisement data repository and a single frequency band access mechanism, which enabled users to explore services offered by various operators with a reduced scanning overhead. The novel hierarchical layout of the repository enabled it to categorise information into various layers and facilitate location based information retrieval. The information made available by the repository included cost, bandwidth, Packet Loss (PL), latency, jitter, Bit Error Rate (BER), location and service connectivity information. The single frequency band access mechanism further enabled users to explore service advertisements in the absence of their main service providers. The single frequency access mechanism broadcasted service advertisements information piggybacked onto a router advertisement packet on a reserved frequency band for advertisements. Results indicated that scanning 13 channels on 802.11 b interface takes 189ms whereas executing a query with maximum permissible search parameters on the service advertisement data repository takes 67ms. A service selection algorithm was developed to make handoff decisions utilising the service advertisements acquired from the service discovery framework; based on a user's preference. The selection algorithm reduced the calculation overhead by eliminating unsuitable networks; based on interface compatibility, service provider location, unacceptable QoS (Quality of service) and unacceptable cost; from the selection process. The selection algorithm utilised cost, bandwidth, PL, latency, jitter, BER and terminal power for computing the most suitable network. Results indicated that the elimination based approach has improved the performance of the algorithm by 35% over non- elimination oriented selection procedures, even after utilising more selection parameters. The service discovery framework and the service selection algorithm are flexible enough to be employed in most mobility management architectures. The thesis recommends Seamless Mobile Internet Protocol (SMIP) as a mobility management scheme based on the simulation results. The SMIP protocol, a combination of Hierarchical Mobile Internet Protocol (HMIP) and Fast Mobile Internet Protocol (FMIP), suffered hand off latency increases when undergoing a global handoff due to HMIP. The proposed modification to the HMIP included the introduction of a coverage area overlap, to reduce the global handoff latency. The introduction of a Home Address (HA) in Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) binding table enabled seamless handoffs from WLANs by having a redirection mechanism for the user's packets after handoff. The thesis delivered a new mobility management architecture with mechanisms for service discovery and service selection. The proposed framework enabled user oriented, application centric and terminal based approach for selecting IPv6 networks

Survey Paper: Mobility Management in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks

AbstractEver increasing user demands and development of modern communication technologies have led to the evolution of communication networks from 1st Generation (1G) network to 4G heterogeneous networks. Further, 4G with heterogeneous network environment will provide features such as, “Always Best Connected”, “Anytime Anywhere” and seamless communication. Due to diverse characteristics of heterogeneous networks such as bandwidth, latency, cost, coverage and Quality of Service (QoS) etc., there are several open and unsolved issues namely mobility management, network administration, security etc. Hence, Designing proficient mobility management to seamlessly integrate heterogeneous wireless networks with all-IP is the most challenging issue in 4G networks. Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6) developed by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has mobility management for the packet-switched devices of homogeneous wireless networks. Further, mobility management of homogeneous networks depends on network related parameter i.e., Received Signal Strength (RSS). However the mobility management of heterogeneous networks, not only depends on network related parameters, but also on terminal-velocity, battery power, location information, user-user profile & preferences and service-service capabilities & QoS etc. Designing mobility management with all-IP, while, considering issues such as context of networks, terminal, user and services is the main concern of industry and researchers in the current era

Scalable QoS-aware Mobility for Future Mobile Operators

Telecom operators and Internet service providers are heading for a new shift in communications paradigms. The forthcoming convergence of cellular and wireless data networks is often manifested in an “all IP approach” in which all communications are based on an end-to-end IP protocol framework. The approach to network design becomes user and service-centered, so that continuous reachability of mobile users and sustained communication capabilities are default requirements for a prospective architecture. In this article, we describe a network architecture which is able to provide seamless communication mobility, triggered either by the user or by the network, across multiple technologies. The architecture allows for media independent handovers and supports optimized mobility and resource management functions. The main focus of the article is on major technical highlights of mobility and quality-of-service (QoS) management subsystems for converged networks.Publicad

Ubiquitous Internet in an integrated satellite-terrestrial environment: The SUITED solution

yesThe current Internet architecture appears to not be particularly suited to addressing the emerging needs of new classes of users who wish to gain access to multimedia services made available by ISPs, regardless of their location, while in motion and with a guaranteed level of quality. One of the main objectives of so-called nextgeneration systems is to overcome the limitations of today¿s available Internet by adopting an approach based on the integration of different mobile and fixed networks. The SUITED project moves in this direction since it aims at contributing to the design and deployment of the global mobile broadband system (GMBS), a unique satellite/terrestrial infrastructure ensuring nomadic users access to Internet services with a negotiated QoS. A description of the main features of the GMBS architecture, characterized by the integration of a multisegment access network with a federated ISP network is given in this article. The GMBS multimode terminal is schematically described, and an overview of the so-called QoS-aware mobility management scheme, devised for such a heterogeneous scenario,is provided

Implementation of Vertical Handoff Algorithm between IEEE802.11 WLAN and CDMA Cellular Network

Today’s wireless users expect great things from tomorrow’s wireless networks. These expectations have been fueled by hype about what the next generations of wireless networks will offer. The rapid increase of wireless subscribers increases the quality of services anytime, anywhere, and by any-media becoming indispensable. Integration of various networks such as CDMA2000 and wireless LAN into IP-based networks is required in these kinds of services, which further requires a seamless vertical handoff to 4th generation wireless networks. The proposed handoff algorithm between WLAN and CDMA2000 cellular network is implemented. The results of the simulation shows the behavior of the handoff and the time spent in WLAN or CDMA. The number of weak signal beacons determines whether a handoff is required or not. In this algorithm, traffic is classified into real-time and non real-time services

Vertical Fast Handoff Technique For Mobile IPv6 in Heterogeneous 4G Networks

Over the recent years, mobility in wireless communications has become a big interest of communication and network researches due to the rising demand on and expectations of wireless Internet access. However, since none of the existing wireless technologies can individually fulfill all the tasks arising from the Internet users’ demands, the integration or coexistence of different communication systems having different network characteristics is inevitable. This integration on the other hand, requires seamless inter-system mobility solutions. Every inter-system roaming which leads to vertical handoff requires proper interaction of both link and IP layers, since network point of attachment as well as the device interface are involved in handoff. Many investigations in standardization are being made to finally design and implement each of these communication layers. This thesis details out the whole research, which is done in two main components. As for the first component, a link layer mechanism with the notion of a selection algorithm based on weighted mean is primarily introduced for collecting link layer information and discovering the candidate access router. This mechanism is then used as handoff decision phase with an improved mobile-assisted handoff method as an extension of Fast Mobile IPv6 Handoff (FMIPv6) in vertical mode. The performance of the proposed methods is discussed using analysis and comparison of simulation results with wellknown methods in the field. The method has been shown to achieve performance improvements in terms of higher preference level of selection for various cases, and in terms of latency and packet loss, by 45% and 83% respectively, while maintaining comparatively lower buffer sizes. As the second component, a framework is proposed to incorporate an integration mode of cellular and wireless networks called semi tightly-coupled. This framework is further used to design and implement an end-to-end roaming solution as Vertical Fast Handoff (VFHO) for the integrated network. The performance of the proposed framework has been analyzed mathematically and through simulations which show the robustness of VFHO in terms of signaling cost, endto- end packet delivery cost, overall handoff latency, and packet loss based on various system variables. Under several simulations, the number of lost packets encountered by VFHO stayed as low as 20 packets when the arrival rate was a maximum of 50 packets per second, and did not exceed 10 packets in the case when packet sizes was at a maximum of 256 Bytes or when buffer size was set to 50 KB. Besides, the delay varied between 200 and 600 ms in cases when the Duplicate Address Detection (DAD) and wireless link delays reached up to 600 ms and 70 ms, respectively. In conclusion, the selection-based decision mechanism in vertical handoff such as VFHO, can be good for congestion control, and achieve long-term objectives such as load sharing

Future Trends and Challenges for Mobile and Convergent Networks

Some traffic characteristics like real-time, location-based, and community-inspired, as well as the exponential increase on the data traffic in mobile networks, are challenging the academia and standardization communities to manage these networks in completely novel and intelligent ways, otherwise, current network infrastructures can not offer a connection service with an acceptable quality for both emergent traffic demand and application requisites. In this way, a very relevant research problem that needs to be addressed is how a heterogeneous wireless access infrastructure should be controlled to offer a network access with a proper level of quality for diverse flows ending at multi-mode devices in mobile scenarios. The current chapter reviews recent research and standardization work developed under the most used wireless access technologies and mobile access proposals. It comprehensively outlines the impact on the deployment of those technologies in future networking environments, not only on the network performance but also in how the most important requirements of several relevant players, such as, content providers, network operators, and users/terminals can be addressed. Finally, the chapter concludes referring the most notable aspects in how the environment of future networks are expected to evolve like technology convergence, service convergence, terminal convergence, market convergence, environmental awareness, energy-efficiency, self-organized and intelligent infrastructure, as well as the most important functional requisites to be addressed through that infrastructure such as flow mobility, data offloading, load balancing and vertical multihoming.Comment: In book 4G & Beyond: The Convergence of Networks, Devices and Services, Nova Science Publishers, 201