A QoS-Driven ISP Selection Mechanism for IPv6 Multi-homed Sites

A global solution for the provision of QoS in IPng sites must include ISP selection based on per-application requirements. In this article we present a new site-local architecture for QoS-driven ISP selection in multi-homed domains, performed in a per application basis. This architecture proposes the novel use of existent network services, a new type of routing header, and the modification of address selection mechanisms to take into account QoS requirements. This proposal is an evolution of current technology, and therefore precludes the addition of new protocols, enabling fast deployment. The sitelocal scope of the proposed solution results in ISP transparency and thus in ISP independency.This research was supported by the LONG (Laboratories Over the Next Generation Networks) project IST-1999-20393.Publicad

Design of multi-homing architecture for mobile hosts

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis proposes a new multi-homing mobile architecture for future heterogeneous network environment. First, a new multi-homed mobile architecture called Multi Network Switching enabled Mobile IPv6 (MNS-MIP6) is proposed which enables a Mobile Node (MN) having multiple communication paths between itself and its Correspondent Node (CN) to take full advantage of being multi-homed. Multiple communication paths exist because MN, CN, or both are simultaneously attached to multiple access networks. A new sub layer is introduced within IP layer of the host’s protocol stack. A context is established between the MN and the CN. Through this context, additional IP addresses are exchanged between the two. Our MNS-MIP6 architecture allows one communication to smoothly switch from one interface/communication path to another. This switch remains transparent to other layers above IP. Second, to make communication more reliable in multi-homed mobile environments, a new failure detection and recovery mechanism called Mobile Reach ability Protocol (M-REAP) is designed within the proposed MNS-MIP6 architecture. The analysis shows that our new mechanism makes communication more reliable than the existing failure detection and recovery procedures in multi-homed mobile environments. Third, a new network selection mechanism is introduced in the proposed architecture which enables a multi-homed MN to choose the network best suited for particular application traffic. A Policy Engine is defined which takes parameters from iv the available networks, compares them according to application profiles and user preferences, and chooses the best network. The results show that in multi-homed mobile environment, load can be shared among different networks/interfaces through our proposed load sharing mechanism. Fourth, a seamless handover procedure is introduced in the system which enables multi-homed MN to seamlessly roam in a heterogeneous network environment. Layer 2 triggers are defined which assist in handover process. When Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) on a currently used active interface becomes low, a switch is made to a different active interface. We show through mathematical and simulation analysis that our proposed scheme outperforms the existing popular handover management enhancement scheme in MIPv6 networks namely Fast Handover for MIPv6 (FMIPv6). Finally, a mechanism is introduced to allow legacy hosts to communicate with MNS-MIP6 MNs and gain the benefits of reliability, load sharing and seamless handover. The mechanism involves introducing middle boxes in CN’s network. These boxes are called Proxy-MNS boxes. Context is established between the middle boxes and a multi-homed MN

IP-Based Mobility Management and Handover Latency Measurement in heterogeneous environments

One serious concern in the ubiquitous networks is the seamless vertical handover management between different wireless technologies. To meet this challenge, many standardization organizations proposed different protocols at different layers of the protocol stack. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has different groups working on mobility at IP level in order to enhance mobile IPv4 and mobile IPv6 with different variants: HMIPv6 (Hierarchical Mobile IPv6), FMIPv6 (Fast Mobile IPv6) and PMIPv6 (Proxy Mobile IPv6) for seamless handover. Moreover, the IEEE 802.21 standard provides another framework for seamless handover. The 3GPP standard provides the Access Network and Selection Function (ANDSF) to support seamless handover between 3GPP – non 3GPP networks like Wi-Fi, considered as untrusted, and WIMAX considered as trusted networks. In this paper, we present an in-depth analysis of seamless vertical handover protocols and a handover latency comparison of the main mobility management approaches in the literature. The comparison shows the advantages and drawbacks of every mechanism in order to facilitate the adoption of the convenient one for vertical handover within Next Generation Network (NGN) environments. Keywords: Seamless vertical handover, mobility management protocols, IEEE 802.21 MIH, handover latenc

Towards a reliable seamless mobility support in heterogeneous IP networks

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Next Generation networks (3G and beyond) are evolving towards all IP based systems with the aim to provide global coverage. For Mobility in IP based networks, Mobile IPv6 is considered as a standard by both industry and research community, but this mobility protocol has some reliability issues. There are a number of elements that can interrupt the communication between Mobile Node (MN) and Corresponding Node (CN), however the scope of this research is limited to the following issues only: • Reliability of Mobility Protocol • Home Agent Management • Handovers • Path failures between MN and CN First entity that can disrupt Mobile IPv6 based communication is the Mobility Anchor point itself, i.e. Home Agent. Reliability of Home Agent is addressed first because if this mobility agent is not reliable there would be no reliability of mobile communication. Next scenario where mobile communication can get disrupted is created by MN itself and it is due to its mobility. When a MN moves around, at some point it will be out of range of its active base station and at the same time it may enter the coverage area of another base station. In such a situation, the MN should perform a handover, which is a very slow process. This handover delay is reduced by introducing a “make before break” style handover in IP network. Another situation in which the Mobile IPv6 based communication can fail is when there is a path failure between MN and CN. This situation can be addressed by utilizing multiple interfaces of MN at the same time. One such protocol which can utilize multiple interfaces is SHIM6 but it was not designed to work on mobile node. It was designed for core networks but after some modification in the protocol , it can be deployed on mobile nodes. In this thesis, these issues related to reliability of IPv6 based mobile communication have been addressed

Mobility as a first class function

Seamless host mobility has been a desirable feature for a long time, but was not part of the original design of the Internet architecture or protocols. Current approaches to network-layer mobility typically require additional network-layer entities for mobility management, which add complexity to the current engineering landscape of the Internet. We present a host-based, end-to-end architecture for host mobility using the Identifier-Locator Network Protocol (ILNP). ILNP provides mobility support as a first class function, since mobility management is controlled and managed by the end-systems, and does not require additional network-layer entities. We demonstrate an instance of ILNP that is a superset of IPv6 – called ILNPv6 – that is implemented by extending the current IPv6 code in the Linux kernel. We make a direct comparison of performance of ILNPv6 and Mobile IPv6, showing the improved performance of ILNPv6.Postprin

Connection Robustness for Wireless Moving Networks Using Transport Layer Multi-homing

Given any form of mobility management through wireless communication, one useful enhancement is improving the reliability and robustness of transport-layer connections in a heterogeneous mobile environment. This is particularly true in the case of mobile networks with multiple vertical handovers. In this thesis, issues and challenges in mobility management for mobile terminals in such a scenario are addressed, and a number of techniques to facilitate and improve efficiency and the QoS for such a handover are proposed and investigated. These are initially considered in an end-to-end context and all protocols and changes happened in the middleware of the connection where the network is involved with handover issues and end user transparency is satisfied. This thesis begins by investigating mobility management solutions particularly the transport layer models, also making significant observation pertinent to multi-homing for moving networks in general. A new scheme for transport layer tunnelling based on SCTP is proposed. Consequently a novel protocol to handle seamless network mobility in heterogeneous mobile networks, named nSCTP, is proposed. Efficiency of this protocol in relation to QoS for handover parameters in an end-to-end connection while wired and wireless networks are available is considered. Analytically and experimentally it has been proved that this new scheme can significantly increase the throughput, particularly when the mobile networks roam frequently. The detailed plan for the future improvements and expansion is also provided

IP without IP addresses

D. Phoomikiattisak was funded by the Thai Government. B. Simpson was funded by Cisco Systems under a University Research Programme (URP) grant award.We discuss a key engineering challenge in implementing the Identifier- Locator Network Protocol (ILNP), as described in IRTF Experimental RFCs 6740-6748: enabling legacy applications that use the C sockets API. We have built the first two OS kernel implementations of ILNPv6 (ILNP as a superset of IPv6), in both the Linux OS kernel and the FreeBSD OS kernel. Our evaluation is in comparison with IPv6, in the context of a topical and challenging scenario: host mobility implemented as a purely end-to-end function. Our experiments show that ILNPv6 has excellent potential for deployment using existing IPv6 infrastructure, whilst offering the new properties and functionality of ILNP.Postprin

Wireless IP network mobility management: advancing from mobile IP to HIP-based network

Wireless networking introduces a whole range of challenges to the traditional TCP/IP network. In particular, IP address the issue of overloading because IP addresses are used as a network locator and an end point identity in the different layers in an OSI model. Even though Mobile IP is widely deployed, it has significant problems relating to performance and security. The Host Identity Protocol (HIP) provides secure mobility management by solving the IP address overloading from another angle. It restructures the TCP/IP model and introduces a new layer and a new namespace. The performance of HIP has proven to be better than Mobile IP and also opens a range of new research opportunities. This dissertation proposes and analyses a new step-stone solution from the Mobile IP-based network into a HIP-based network. The main advantage of this new solution is that much less change is required to the operating system kernel of the end point compared to a full HIP implementation. The new step-stone solution allows Mobile IP to use some HIP features to provide better security and handover performance. This dissertation also proposes several new and novel HIP-based wireless communication network architectures. An HIP-based heterogeneous wireless network architecture and handover scheme has been proposed and analysed. These schemes limit the HIP signalling in the wireless network if no communication to external networks is needed. Beside the network architecture modification, the hybrid Session Initial Protocol (SIP) and HIP-based Voice over IP (VoIP) scheme is proposed and analysed. This novel scheme improves the handover latency and security. This dissertation also proposes and analyses a new and novel extension to HIP, a HIP-based micro-mobility management, micro-HIP (mHIP). mHIP provides a new secure framework for micro-mobility management. It is a more complete HIP-based micro-mobility solution than any other proposed in existing studies. mHIP improves the intra-domain handover performance, the security, and the distribution of load in the intra-domain handover signalling. The new work presented opens up a number of very interesting research opportunities

Design and Experimental Evaluation of a Route Optimisation Solution for NEMO

An important requirement for Internet protocol (IP) networks to achieve the aim of ubiquitous connectivity is network mobility (NEMO). With NEMO support we can provide Internet access from mobile platforms, such as public transportation vehicles, to normal nodes that do not need to implement any special mobility protocol. The NEMO basic support protocol has been proposed in the IETF as a first solution to this problem, but this solution has severe performance limitations. This paper presents MIRON: Mobile IPv6 route optimization for NEMO, an approach to the problem of NEMO support that overcomes the limitations of the basic solution by combining two different modes of operation: a Proxy-MR and an address delegation with built-in routing mechanisms. This paper describes the design and rationale of the solution, with an experimental validation and performance evaluation based on an implementation.Publicad