An integrated QoS-aware mobility architecture for seamless handover in IEEE 802.16e mobile BWA networks

The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated QoS-aware mobility architecture to achieve the end-to-end QoS guarantee for IEEE 802.16e-based mobile broadband wireless access (BWA) networks. On the one hand, based on the mobility approach combining both Dynamic RSVP (DRSVP) and crossover router (CR) designed by us [4], the proposed architecture provides a cross-layer mobility management scheme with the macro diversity handover (MDHO) and Fast BS switching (FBSS) supported by IEEE 802.16e. By obtaining signal strength reports and movement detection information from lower layer in advance, the architecture can make better preparation for a seamless handover on the network layer, so that the packet loss is eliminated and the handover latency is reduced. On the other hand, the architecture further reduces the signaling message overhead and handover delay by mapping three DRSVP services to the five MAC services of IEEE 802.16e, then facilitates providing the end-to-end QoS-guaranteed services for IEEE 802.16e-based mobile BWA networks.