Improving Mobile IPv6 handover in Wireless Local Area Networks

Abstract

In this study the issue of handover in WLAN networks will be considered with existence of Mobile IPv6 deployment, a simple User Datagram Protocol UDP video application is used to represent the traffic between the Mobile Node MN and the Correspondent Node CN while the MN is roaming out from its Home Agent HA Network to enter the Foreign Agent FA in other network, passing through a blind areas between the WLAN access points with no enough coverage, to evaluate the performance of the handover mechanism and then propose some network configuration enhancements to improve the handover process, these enhancements are configured in the wired routing networks by tuning the routing advertisement and neighbour parameter in order to reduce the packet transmission latency and to avoid dropping of packets in process, hosts binding messages and return routability test messages parameters are also adjusted. The network performance is evaluated in terms of WLAN physical layer statistics such as delay, load, media access delay, packet drop, and throughput, in addition to application statistics as UDP traffic received in MN, these enhancements are considered as routing optimization and WLAN regulations. Actually the aim of this study is to improve horizontal-hard handover mechanism. OPNET network modeler simulation is used in order to apply these proposed enhancementswe get satisfied expected results in terms of performance metrics like data dropped which reduced by approximately 50%, and the physical layer delay reduced by 84%.