Title: An experimental cross-layer approach to improve the vertical
handover procedure in heterogeneous wireless networks
Authors: Rosario G. Garroppo, Stefano
Giordano, Stefano Lucetti, Giuseppe Risi, Luca Tavanti
Abstract: Users of next generation wireless devices will be
likely to move across an heterogeneous network environment. This will give them
the possibility to always exploit the best connection to the global Internet. In
order to keep a seamless connection, the handover between different access
technologies, also known as vertical handover, must be as smooth as possible.
The current evolution of network architectures toward an all-IP core favours the
use of the Mobile IPv6 protocol to handle such handovers. However, this protocol
still presents several drawbacks, mainly related to the assumption of static
devices and wired connections. Hence we have designed and implemented a software
module that exploits information from the lower layers (e.g. physical) to extend
the capabilities of Mobile IPv6 to wireless environments. We have then evaluated
both the plain Mobile IPv6 and the our proposed implementation over an
experimental testbed. The outcome of the experiment proves the effectiveness of
our solution and reveals the possibility to perform a seamless vertical handover
in heterogeneous wireless networks.