Reducing Hard Handover Overhead in Future All-IP Wireless Access Networks

In host-based routing (HBR) domains such as cellular IP, handover can be executed implicitly via path update packets from the new location of the mobile host (MH). The direction of the flow of packets destined to the MH is diverted at the crossover node (CoN), thereby reducing to a minimum the handover delay and associated packet loss. As the depth of the network increases so does the path update time to the CoN. To reduce the handover overhead, an architectural extension is proposed to the path update process, by adding a multi-homed base-station (MHOBS) at certain points in the wireless access network where the path update delay becomes severe. Two scenarios are investigated. The first scenario is one in which the old and new paths to the MH are equal in length or symmetrical, the second, when the paths are unequal, or asymmetrical. [Publication Abstract]