Interconnection & Handover between IEEE 802.16e & UMTS

Abstract

Currently, the interruptions of service during the vertical handover between different technologies, especially when the service is sensitive to delay, pose a real problem to the end users. In order to reduce the latency during the vertical handover; we propose in this paper to combine two mechanisms proposed recently for the handover. The both mechanisms that we will combine in the case of vertical handover are: the IEEE 802.21 architecture, that allows obtaining information on networks before the Handover; and the MSCTP protocol that uses during the handover the multihoming technique to open several IP sessions at the same time between the mobile station and the networks. To test our proposition, we will design an interconnection and mobility model between two WMAN radio technologies, which one belongs to the networks family based on IP protocol: IEEE Mobile WiMAX, and the second belongs to the telecommunication networks family: UMTS. For evaluate the performance of the proposition, we will apply first each mechanism only on the model; then our proposed solution; and we will compare the three results obtained The simulations will drive under NS2 simulator; based on the tracking of a mobile station movement between the Mobile WiMAX and the UMTS networks, and using the VoIP traffic for the communication with other correspondent node localized in an external network.