Abstract
The new IEEE 802.21 standard specifies link layer intelligence and other related network information to upper layers in order to optimize handovers between networks of different types, such as WiMAX, Wi-Fi, and 3GPP. This paper makes a short description of 802.21 standard, how it is implemented in ns-2, and the signaling used in a handover between WiMAX and Wi-Fi. The paper also proposes a novel and very simple approach to determine the expected number of handovers in an ns-2 simulation and also evaluates the reliability and scalability of ns-2 when simulating 802.21 scenarios with multiple nodes.
Highlights
As wireless users constantly demand for more mobility and bandwidth, a solution was needed that allows their mobile devices to use “any” network in range in order to get coverage or better service
The packet loss in the system is the difference between the total number of packets sent by the CN and the number of the packets received by all mobile node (MN)
The HO time is the amount of time that elapses between an interface sending an MIPv6 Redirect Request to the CN and receiving the correspondent Redirect Ack from the CN
Summary
As wireless users constantly demand for more mobility and bandwidth, a solution was needed that allows their mobile devices to use “any” network in range in order to get coverage or better service. The IEEE 802.21 standard [1] is a first step in order to allow mobile devices to successfully make a handover (HO) between networks of different technologies, such as WiMAX, Wi-Fi, UMTS, Bluetooth, or Ethernet. The most basic way of describing an HO is when a phone call in progress is redirected from its current cell to a new cell. This normally happens when the mobile device making the call is in movement and detects that it is losing coverage, so it needs to “jump” to another antenna.
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