Enhancing PMIPv6 for Better Handover Performance among Heterogeneous Wireless Networks in a Micromobility Domain

This paper analyzes the reduction of handover delay in a network-based localized mobility management framework assisted by IEEE 802.21 MIH services. It compares the handover signaling procedures with host-based localized MIPv6 (HMIPv6), with network-based localized MIPv6 (PMIPv6), and with PMIPv6 assisted by IEEE 802.21 to show how much handover delay reduction can be achieved. Furthermore, the paper proposes and gives an in-depth analysis of PMIPv6 optimized with a handover coordinator (HC), which is a network-based entity, to further improve handover performance in terms of handover delay and packet loss while maintaining minimal signaling overhead in the air interface among converged heterogeneous wireless networks. Simulation and analytical results show that indeed handover delay and packet loss are reduced.