Link Layer Handover Research Articles

SEIP: Secure and seamless IP communications for group-oriented machine to machine communications

The main requirements of machine to machine (M2M) communication in 5G include support of a massive number of low-data-rate devices and very-low-latency data transfer. Addressing these requirements in 5G requires new methods and in this paper we focus on one of the paramount issues, i.e., secure and seamless IP communications for group-oriented M2M communications. We consider a heterogeneous network architecture based on 3GPP standard, in which the handover occurs between E-UTRAN and Non-3GPP access network. We first propose an improved Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6) protocol, and further implement the improved PMIPv6 associated with the group-based lightweight authentication scheme to achieve secure and seamless IP communications, named SEIP, which improves handover latency, packet loss, and signaling overhead. Particularly, SEIP performs access authentication process before IP layer (L3) and link layer (L2) handover to reduce handover delay. In addition, it uses packet buffering and forwarding mechanisms to reduce packet loss during the handover period. SEIP can not only fulfill security requirements in previous protocols, but also can successfully resist some sophisticated attacks, such as redirection, DoS attacks, etc. The results of performance analysis illustrate that SEIP achieves better performance in terms of signaling cost on wireless link, handover latency and packet loss compared to several other schemes.

Pre-Authentication Design for Seamless and Secure Handover in Mobile WiMAX

Mobile WiMAX uses EAP-based authentication and key management for link layer security. One of the major challenges concerning the performance of mobile WiMAX is seamless handover. Research shows that a large portion of delay related to handover actually comes from user authentication and network entry and re-entry. In general, total delay associated with the handover process can be divided into three categories: i) link layer handover delay, ii) IP layer handover delay, and iii) security sub-layer handover delay. We propose a pre-authentication design that can provide seamless and safe connection when handover takes place. Our design is based on the least privilege principle; therefore, our approach guarantees backward/forward secrecy. We conduct research using an ns-2 simulation tool to measure the performance of our seamless handover. Our approach is validated using automated validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA).

Seamless and Secure Design for Subsequent Handover in Mobile WiMAX Networks

Handover performance plays a crucial role in ensuring the quality of real-time applications in WiMAX networks. In general, the total delay associated with the handover process can be divided into three category: i) link layer handover delay, ii) IP layer handover delay, iii) Security sub-layer handover delay, research shows that a large portion of the delay related to handover are actually comes from user authentication and network entry and re-entry, real-time applications such as VoIP and video streaming .require a minimum interruption for a suitable service, sadly the existing design of the handover scheme could not provide seamless safe connection, therefore the use of such application will be unlikely, in this paper we introduce an efficient design that can provide fast and secure communication especially over the subsequent handover, we named it FSSHO for short, in our proposal we consider the use the of a pre-authentication scheme and prior backhaul inter-communication, our design generate a minimum delay that is more than suitable for real-time application. From our analytical comparison and simulation result we can see that our FSSHO approach achieves 72% improve over the standard and 38% improve over the enhanced scheme cited in the paper.

A Host-based Fast Mobility Scheme (HFMS) in 802.16j Mobile RS Mode

As technologies for the high quality multimedia application and 4G WiMAX network prevail, one can easily be under services everywhere through WiMAX wireless network. However, the service disruption time (SDT) caused by handover procedure leads to an unacceptable quality of service (QoS) for mobile users, especially in IEEE 802.16j mobile relay station (MRS) mode. Therefore, we proposed a host-based fast mobility scheme (HFMS) in IEEE 802.16j MRS mode to reduce the SDT and solve the packet loss problem during handover via the cooperation between the MRS's link-layer and mobile station's (MS's) IP layer. In the proposed scheme, the MRS's link-layer will notify the MS's IP layer to perform IP layer handover procedure when the MRS performs link-layer handover. The parallel handover reduces the SDT efficiently. On the other hand, the proposed buffering mechanism can avoid packet loss. As a result, the seamless mobility and satisfactory QoE can be achieved for mobile users in IEEE 802.16j MRS mode.

Geometrical Mathematical Models and Carrier to Interference Ratio based Handoff Algorithm for Reduction of Handoff Latency in Wireless Networks

IEEE 802.11b networks are becoming more ubiquitous. While roaming through access points, a mobile node is often required to perform a link layer handover. This mechanism causes connection losses and breaks in time-sensitive communication, especially if a network layer handover follows the link layer handover. In this paper, we propose to reduce handoff latency for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks with Neighbor Graphs (NG) pre-scanning mechanisms and using a GPS based server which predetermines the next probable AP using three formulated geometry based mathematical techniques. IEEE 802.11 uses 11 channels of which the channels 1, 6 and 11 do not mutually overlap. As they are non-overlapping, the channels are expected to have a lower carrier-to-interference ratio (CI) compared to the other channels present under the same base station, which increases the channel’s availability during handoff due to high signal to noise ratio (SNR). When handoff criterion have been met, we design an algorithm to first determine the Access Point (AP), by the geometrical models, under whose coverage area the Mobile node (MN) would enter, and then scanning the channels 1, 6 and 11, if present under the next Access Point (AP), to reduce the scanning delay. We also introduce pre-authentication mechanism, which will effectively reduce the message processing delay. General Terms: Wireless Mobile Communication, Mathematical Models.

Fast Handoff Implementation by using Geometrical Mathematical Models and Carrier to Interference Ratio based Handoff Algorithm

IEEE 802.11b networks are becoming more ubiquitous. While roaming through access points, a Mobile Station is often required to perform a link layer handover. This mechanism causes connection losses and breaks in time-sensitive communication, especially if a network layer handover follows the link layer handover. In this paper, we propose to reduce handoff latency for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks with Neighbor Graphs (NG) pre-scanning mechanisms and using a GPS based server which predetermines the next probable AP using three formulated geometry based mathematical techniques. IEEE 802.11 uses 11 channels of which the channels 1, 6 and 11 do not mutually overlap. As they are non-overlapping, the channels are expected to have a lower carrier-to-interference ratio (CI) compared to the other channels present under the same base station, which increases the channel‟s availability during handoff. When handoff criterion have been met, we design an algorithm to first determine the Access Point (AP) under whose coverage area the Mobile Station (MS) would enter, then scanning the channels 1, 6 and 11, if present under the next Access Point (AP), to reduce the scanning delay. We also introduce pre-authentication mechanism, which will effectively reduce the message processing delay.

Improved Handoff Efficiency with the help of Neighbour Graph using Carrier to Interference Ratio

Presently, IEEE 802.11 based wireless local area networks (WLAN) have been widely deployed for business and personal applications. The main issue regarding wireless network technology is handoff or hand over management. When a mobile station (MS) moves outside the range of its current access point (AP) it needs to perform a link layer handover. This causes data loss and interruption in communication. According to IEEE 802.11, link layer2 (L2) handoff is performed in three phases – scanning, authentication and re-association. Scanning process causes 90% of the total handoff delay. Throughout the last few years, plenty of researches had been done to reduce the hand off delay by reducing the scanning delay. In this paper, we propose to reduce handoff latency for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks with Neighbor Graphs (NG) pre-scanning mechanisms. IEEE 802.11 uses 11 channels of which the channels 1, 6 and 11 do not mutually overlap. So these channels are expected to have a lower carrier-to-interference ratio (CI) compared to other channels under the same base station, which increases the channel‟s availability during handoff. Based on the NG prescanning mechanism, when handoff criterions have been met, we design an algorithm to first scan the channels 1, 6 and 11, if present under the next Access Point (AP), to reduce the scanning delay. We also introduce pre-authentication mechanism, which will effectively reduce the message processing delay.

The seamless vertical handover between (universal mobile telecommunications system) UMTS and (wireless local area network) WLAN by using hybrid scheme of Bi-mSCTP in Mobile IP

Nowadays many different types of networks communicate among themselves to form heterogeneous wireless networks (HWN). Seamless vertical handover (VHO) between a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) is necessary to provide continuous internet access for mobile node (MN) as roaming across these networks is to be without interruption. To support the seamless VHO and smooth mobility in the HWN, a network layer protocol mobile IP (MIP) is exploited. MIP has several attendant issues such as hybrid routing, registration delay, data session disruption during VHO, and packet overhead. These issues occur when the data packets of the MIP are sent from a foreign agent (FA) to a home agent (HA) via a tunnel when a MN moves to a new network which will cause a triangle routing. In this paper, we propose a hybrid scheme of mobile stream control transmission protocol (mSCTP) with a bicasting mechanism or so- called Bi-mSCTP under the MIP to overcome the abovementioned triangle routing. When an MN is in the area of VHO, the proposed scheme relies on the generated mSCTP signals to allocate a new care-of- address (CoA) to the corresponding node (CN) dynamically before the link layer handover. At the same time, it inserts a bicasting flag inside the address configuration (ASCONF) data chunk to inform the CN to start the transmission over both WLAN and UMTS links. The system performances were analyzed by using the NS-2 simulation tool. The results showed that the hybrid scheme introduces approximately 1.02 and 2.64 seconds reduction in delay performance over both mSCTP and MIP schemes respectively. It also reduces the packet loss rate by more than 21.7 and 45% compared to mSCTP and MIP respectively.

Advanced handover schemes in IMT-advanced systems [WiMAX/LTE Update

Handover is one of the key components in cellular network mobility management and has the most stringent latency requirement on service interruption time since the end-user experience is majorly determined by it. In the design of IMT-Advanced systems, the scalability and flexibility to support various 4G deployments is also very crucial while meeting the latency requirement on handover. This article presents the state-of-the-art handover schemes considering various deployment scenarios in IMTAdvanced candidate systems with a focus on IEEE 802.16m1 based next-generation WiMAX networks and 3GPP LTE-Advanced.2 Also, to minimize and optimize handover latency to fulfill the requirement for quality of service during handover, various procedural advanced handover schemes are being developed, proposed, and analyzed by IEEE 802.16m and 3GPP. Handover schemes in IEEE 802.16m and 3GPP provide lower link layer handover latency while providing the required QoS level than the existing link layer handover schemes.

An efficient mobile IPv6 handover scheme

Excellent handover performance is essential for deploying real time applications over wireless Internets. In this paper, this study present a novel handover scheme for Mobile IPv6. The proposed scheme is based on an infrastructure, which is called Cross-layer Address Resolution (CAR). A smart message interaction for the Binding Update procedure is also introduced. The prototype is illustrated first and a buffering approach adopted to achieve zero packet loss. The proposed scheme, which is called Seamless Handover for Mobile IPv6 (S-MIPv6), evolved from Fast Handover for Mobile IPv6 (F-MIPv6). The problems in F-MIPv6, such as triangle route and sequence disorder, are solved by the proposed scheme. The S-MIPv6 avoids building tunnels and reduces registration delay. It is capable of cooperating with a Mobility Anchor Point (MAP) to take advantage from hierarchical networks. The S-MIPv6 is modeled and simulated. In a practical case, the disruption duration is close to the Data Link layer handover latency (50---100 ms). We believe that the proposed S-MIPv6 is capable of providing seamless handover for time critical services.

A neighbor caching mechanism for handoff in IEEE 802.11 wireless networks

Seamless handover in IEEE 802.11 for Quality of Service (QoS) demanding applications is one of the critical issues because of handover latency. In this paper, we propose the Neighbor Graph Cache (NGC) mechanism to reduce scanning latency while a mobile station tries to make a link-layer handover. The handoff latency can be greatly reduced through the NGC algorithm. We used OPNET modeler as the simulation tool. The simulation results show that the handover delay by NGC is 2.614 ms. It is less than 50 ms and able to meet the criteria of VoIP application.

Seamless multicast mobility support using fast MIPv6 extensions

This paper elaborates on seamless handover support for wireless IP multicast networks with the use of a novel mobility management mechanism. The latter enables mobile nodes with active multicast sessions to execute seamless remote subscriptions while changing their network attachment point and is formulated by extending the unicast “Fast Handovers for Mobile IPv6” protocol (FMIPv6). The proposed scheme minimizes service disruption due to handover, by using conditional tunneling of multicast traffic on a per flow (rather than per mobile node) basis. Moreover, a simple buffering technique is proposed, enabling the temporary storage of the tunneled before the handover packets thus eliminating packet loss occurring during the link layer handover period. Also, multicast traffic recipients experience reduced handover latency due to the timely configuration of the network routers providing the multicast service. The performance of the proposed mechanism is evaluated by OPNET simulation results, for realistic IEEE 802.11 WLAN indoor simulation scenarios, incorporating spatially correlated shadowing for the propagation environment and random mobility of users. Performance results are provided in terms of service disruption time perceived by video streaming recipients as well as tunneling and buffering overhead for handover support, while varying the FMIPv6 protocol triggering configuration, the inter-domain distance and the access router buffering capacity. The performance evaluation reveals a significant reduction in the handover packet loss level when compared to similar multicast mobility schemes, causing a slight increase of resource consumption for tunneling and buffering purposes.

Handover schemes in satellite networks: state-of-the-art and future research directions

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites will work as an important component in future data communication networks. LEO satellites provide low end-toend delays and efficient frequency spectrum utilization, making them suitable for personal communication. However, due to high satellite speed, ongoing communication using LEO constellations experiences frequent handover. In this article we provide an up-to-date, comprehensive literature survey on proposed handover schemes for LEO satellite systems. We also present a detailed classification of handover schemes based on a common framework. We first classify the schemes into link-layer and network-layer handover schemes. Link-layer handover schemes are further classified into three categories: spotbeam handover schemes, satellite handover schemes, and ISL handover schemes. Spotbeam handover schemes are categorized based on channel capacity, handover guarantee, and handover prioritization techniques. Network-layer handover schemes are also classified depending on connection transfer strategies. Finally, we compare the handover schemes using different quality of service (QoS) criteria.