Abstract Substantially growing data traffic over wireless networks poses increased challenges for mobile network operators in deploying sufficient network resources and managing user mobility. This dissertation considers these challenges to providing satisfactory Quality of Service (QoS) for end-users and studies solutions for better utilization of the heterogeneous network environment. First, the dissertation examines what solutions mobile devices and network management entities can use to dynamically collect valid cross-layer information from different network entities. Cross-layer information allows monitoring of the condition of the network in multiple layers on a user and application basis. The second research topic considers the techniques the network management entities can use to improve resource usage in wireless networks based on the collected cross-layer information. The IEEE 802.21 standard, specified to facilitate handovers between heterogeneous networks, is used as the basis for cross-layer information delivery. This dissertation also focuses on utilization of the standard beyond the inter-access technology handovers. In order to improve resource usage in wireless networks dynamically, event delivery enhancements are proposed for the standard so that it better applies to the requirements of different techniques. Such techniques are traffic priority adjustment, traffic adaptation, packet aggregation, and network protocol header compression. The results show that when a handover is not feasible, these techniques effectively allow sharing of the limited radio resources for the user data according to applications’ importance and type. Mobility management is studied in terms of network information service, one of the main services of IEEE 802.21. The thesis proposes enhancing the information service with a base station cell coverage area database. The database provides significant improvements for the selection of a handover target in a dense base station environment. With all the results taken together, the dissertation provides mobile network operators various means to improve the usage of wireless networks on the basis of applications’ varying QoS requirements. / Tiivistelmä Voimakkaasti kasvava langattomien tietoverkkojen dataliikenne aiheuttaa verkko-operaattoreille haasteita tarjota riittävät verkkoresurssit ja hallita käyttäjien liikkuvuutta. Väitöskirja huomioi nämä haasteet tarjota loppukäyttäjille tyydyttävä palvelunlaatu (QoS) ja tutkii ratkaisuja, joilla heterogeenistä verkkoympäristöä voidaan hyödyntää tehokkaammin. Aluksi väitöskirja tutkii, mitä ratkaisuja päätelaitteet ja verkkohallintatoimijat voivat käyttää keräämään protokollakerrosten välistä (cross-layer) tietoa eri verkkotoimijoilta. Protokollakerrosten välinen tieto mahdollistaa verkon tilan seuraamisen usealla eri kerroksella käyttäjä- ja sovelluskohtaisesti. Toinen tutkimusaihe tarkastelee protokollakerrosten välistä tietoa hyödyntäviä tekniikoita, joita verkonhallintatoimijat voivat käyttää tehostamaan resurssien käyttöä langattomissa verkoissa. IEEE 802.21-standardia, joka on määritetty helpottamaan verkonvaihtoja heterogeenisten verkkojen välillä, käytetään pohjana protokollakerrosten välisen tiedon jakelulle. Väitöskirjassa keskitytään standardin hyödyntämiseen myös muussa kuin verkkoteknologioiden välisen verkonvaihdon yhteydessä. Väitöskirja ehdottaa parannuksia standardin tapahtumatietovälitykseen, jotta se täyttäisi paremmin eri tekniikoiden asettamat vaatimukset dynaamisesti toteutettavista toimista langattomien verkkojen resurssikäytön tehostamiseksi. Nämä tekniikat ovat liikenteen prioriteetin muutokset, liikenteen adaptointi, pakettien yhdistäminen ja verkkoprotokollaotsikoiden pakkaus. Tulokset osoittavat, että kun tukiasema- tai verkonvaihto ei ole mahdollinen, nämä tekniikat mahdollistavat rajattujen verkkoresurssien jakamisen tehokkaasti sovellusten tärkeyden ja tyypin mukaan. Liikkuvuudenhallintaa tutkitaan verkkoinformaatiopalvelun, joka on myös yksi IEEE 802.21-standardin pääpalveluista, kautta. Väitöskirja ehdottaa, että informaatiopalvelua tehostetaan liittämällä siihen tietokanta tukiasemasolujen peittoalueista. Tietokanta tehostaa huomattavasti verkonvaihdon kohteen valintaa tiheissä tukiasemaympäristöissä. Kun väitöskirjan tulokset huomioidaan kokonaisuutena, väitöskirja tarjoaa verkko-operaattoreille useita tapoja tehostaa langattomien verkkojen käyttöä sovellusten vaihtelevien palvelunlaatuvaatimusten perusteella.

Abstract The contemporary information age is equipped with rich and affordable telecommunication services. In the future, people have even more flexibility when true wireless Internet and real-time multimedia are provided seamlessly over heterogeneous wireless networks. Optimally combining the capacity and services of the current and emerging networks requires a holistic view of mobility, resource and service management. This thesis contributes to the research and development of these hybrid systems with three main contributions. Firstly, a system architecture for vertical handoff in location-aware heterogeneous wireless networks is proposed. The proposed architecture enables the mobile node to prepare for approaching vertical handoffs and wake-up a hotspot interface. The needed communication procedures are discussed, and inter-related issues of mobility and geolocation information are considered in proportion to usability, advantages and limitations. Secondly, a framework for the analysis of vertical handoff algorithm sensitivity to various mobility parameters including velocity, handoff delay and dwell time is introduced. Handoff smoothing with a dwell-timer is analyzed as one potential scheme for optimizing vertical handoff locally. It is compared to a power based algorithm to find out its sensitivity to the changes in effective data rates, velocity of the terminal and the amount of handoff delay. The analysis focuses on the transition region, having case studies on both moving-in and moving-out scenarios. An optimal value for dwell-timer is found through simulations, showing a performance gain over power based algorithm as a function of mean throughput. The analysis is extended also to a multiple network scenario. Thirdly, experimental results on the behaviour of protocols used in wireless IP networks are presented. Prototype systems demonstrate results of using Mobile IP with a fuzzy logic algorithm for vertical handoff in a heterogeneous network environment and the role of IPv6 when using a voice application in a wireless LAN environment. Latest contributions include developing plug-and-play middleware functionalities for Symbian mobile devices, extending the use of the earlier results to state-of-the-art mobile devices.

Architecture et mécanismes de bout en bout pour les communications mobiles et sans fil dans l'Internet. La gestion performante de la mobilité et l'amélioration des performances des couches basses sont deux enjeux fondamentaux dans le contexte des réseaux sans fil. Cette thèse apporte des solutions originales et innovantes qui visent à répondre à ces deux problématiques empêchant à ce jour d'offrir des possibilités de communication performantes et sans couture aux usagers mobiles accédant à l'Internet via des réseaux d'accès locaux sans fil (WLAN). Ces solutions se distinguent en particulier par l'impact minimum qu'elles ont sur les protocoles standards de l'Internet (niveaux transport et réseau) ou de l'IEEE (niveaux physique et liaison de données). S'inscrivant dans les paradigmes de "bout en bout" et "cross-layer", notre architecture permet d'offrir des solutions efficaces pour la gestion de la mobilité : gestion de la localisation et des handover en particulier. En outre, nous montrons que notre approche permet également d'améliorer l'efficacité des transmissions ainsi que de résoudre efficacement plusieurs syndromes identifiés au sein de 802.11 tels que les anomalies de performance, l'iniquité entre les flux et l'absence de contrôle de débit entre la couche MAC et les couches supérieures. Cette thèse résout ces problèmes en combinant des modèles analytiques, des simulations et de réelles expérimentations. Ces mécanismes adaptatifs ont été développés et intégrés dans une architecture de communication qui fournit des services de communication à haute performance pour réseaux sans fils tels que WIFI et WIMAX. / Wireless networks, because of the potential pervasive and mobile communication services they offer, are becoming the dominant Internet access networks. However, the legacy Internet protocols, still dominant at that time, have not been designed with mobility and wireless in mind. Therefore, numerous maladjustments and “defaults of impedance” can be observed when combining wireless physical and MAC layers with the traditional upper layers. This thesis proposes several solutions for a pacific coexistence between these communication layers that have been defined and designed independently. Reliable mobility management and Low layer performance enhancements are two main challenging issues in the context of wireless networks. Mobility management (which is mostly based on mobile IP architecture nowadays) aims to continuously assign and control the wireless connections of mobile nodes amongst a space of wireless access networks. Low layer performance enhancements mainly focus on the transmission efficiency such as higher rate, lower loss, interference avoidance. This thesis addresses these two important issues from an original and innovative approach that, conversely to the traditional contributions, entails a minimum impact on the legacy protocols and internet infrastructure. Following the “end to end” and “cross layer” paradigms, we address and offer efficient and light solutions to fast handover, location management and continuous connection support through a space of wireless networks. Moreover, we show that such an approach makes it possible to enhance transmission efficiency and solve efficiently several syndromes that plague the performances of current wireless networks such as performance anomaly, unfairness issues and maladjustment between MAC layer and upper layers. This thesis tackles these issues by combining analytical models, simulations and real experiments. The resulting mechanisms have been developed and integrated into adaptive mobility management communication architecture that delivers high performing communication services to mobile wireless systems, with a focus on WIFI and WIMAX access networks.

Com a heterogeneidade de tecnologias de comunicação sem fio presentes na borda de redes de acesso, serviços providos na Internet podem ser acessados de forma quasi ubíqua através de dispositivos móveis ou portáteis. O acesso a esses serviços, contudo, está associado a atrasos e rupturas frequentes na comunicação devido a razões inerentes à mobilidade do dispositivo, como: i) perda de sinal em locais onde há pouca ou nenhuma cobertura de acesso móvel; ii) erros no quadro de dados durante a transmissão e, consequentemente, perdas de pacotes, que podem ser ocasionados por interferência no sinal ou enfraquecimento deste pelo distanciamento do dispositivo em relação à Estação Base; iii) mudanças de endereços IP durante transmissões em andamento causadas pela migração do dispositivo entre diferentes redes. Como consequência, aplicações falham com a ruptura de comunicações orientadas a conexão. Tratar a mobilidade de forma transparente à aplicação é um dos desafios da Computação Móvel e Ubíqua que vem sendo pesquisado ao longo da última década. Soluções foram propostas para operarem desde a Camada de Enlace à Aplicação. Muitas delas, entretanto, exigem modificações na pilha de protocolos TCP/IP e adição de infraestrutura específica de rede no suporte à comunicação fim-a-fim. Além de elevar o custo das etapas de implantação e manutenção, estratégias intrusivas e dependentes de infraestrutura adicional podem não apresentar desempenho satisfatório. Nesse contexto, propomos tratar a mobilidade no nível da própria aplicação através de Sessões de Comunicação que não falham com atrasos e desconexões. Operando somente nos nós-fim e de modo transparente às Camadas adjacentes de Aplicação e Transporte, as sessões não requerem infraestrutura adicional para intermediar ou controlar a comunicação entre pares, tampouco modificações em protocolos legados da pilha TCP/IP. O conceito de Sessões Tolerantes a Rupturas é implementado através de uma API de propósito geral em sistemas Linux que estende a interface de Sockets. A API é, na prática, uma camada transparente sobre o Socket que provê Ciência de Mobilidade à aplicação através de mecanismos para: acompanhar a localização de nós ao longo da duração de uma sessão; detectar rupturas nas transmissões causadas pela mobilidade do nó ou de seu par remoto; suspender e retomar sessões de forma eficiente, segura e confiável. Experimentos conduzidos em ambientes emulados e reais com equipamentos de uso comercial mostram a eficiência das sessões. Além de introduzir baixa degradação na vazão fim-a-fim, rupturas na transmissão podem ser detectadas em microssegundos e sessões suspensas são reabertas em milissegundos. Com um desempenho superior a solução de mobilidade geral da Camada IP, as sessões não necessitam de adaptações de software em equipamentos de rede / Nowadays services available on the Internet can be accessed from mobile devices while they roam across heterogeneous wireless networks. Due to the inherent reasons of device mobility, however, the access to such services is frequently involved with delay and disruptions. The most common reasons are: i) losing radio signal at places where mobile access coverage area is not available; ii) frame error, losses, and fading on the radio signal when the mobile device moves away from the Base Station; iii) changes on the devices IP address over ongoing transmission, while the mobile node migrates among different wireless networks. As result, networked application fails with disruptions on TCP connections established in the mobile users path. Handling seamlessly mobility on the Internet is a technical challenge of the Mobile Computing Paradigm. It has been widely researched over the last decade. Several solutions have been proposed to work from the Link Layer to the Application Layer. Most of them, however, work intrusively and require modifications in the classical TCP/IP protocol stack, as well as rely on additional network infrastructure to support mobile end-to-end communication. Besides increasing the cost of deployment and maintenance, intrusive and infrastructure dependent strategies may not present suitable performance. In this sense, we devised an architecture to handle mobility at the Application level by means of communication sessions that do not fail with delay, disruption or disconnection. Such sessions work only at the end-systems in a such way that: are fully transparent to the adjacent layers of Transport and Application; do not require additional network infrastructure to forward and manage the communication between two mobile peers; and do not impose any modification on the legacy protocols from the TCP/IP stack. The concept of Disruption-Tolerant Sessions is implemented in Linux by means of a general purpose API extended from the Socket interface. Such API is a transparent layer placed on top of the Socket to provide mobility awareness to the Application Layer. To do so, session services are provided for: tracking mobile peers along the session duration; detecting disruptions over TCP connection caused by mobility of the local or remote peer; suspending and resuming sessions with efficiency, security and reliability. Experiments conducted in emulated and real systems (off-the-shelf hardware and open source software) showed the desired efficiency. Besides introducing little overhead on the goodput, disruptions are detected in a range of microseconds and suspended sessions are resumed in milliseconds. With performance greater than the general IP layer mobility solution, the proposed sessions do not require software adaptation in the core of the network infrastructure

Today Moblity Management is one of the most important tasks that need to be accomplished to secure availability and performance of communication between people. This paper explains how moblity management is currently structured and what algorithms and approaches from Peer-To-Peer technology could be used to increase availability and performance.

This research in the field of transport sociology explores how workplaces in Stockholm can become actors in managing transport demand and through soft measures contribute to an increase of sustainable and active commuting to work and short-distance travel on work purposes. It uses a mixed-method approach consisting of a review of official documents, publications and initiatives, a web-survey and semi-structured interviews with representatives of Stockholm’s public and private workplaces. The study uncovers the current role of workplaces in mobility management policies of Stockholm, analyzes internal and external factors that influence the likelihood of workplaces to encourage sustainable and active commute and travel to meetings within the city among their employees and provides recommendations on how workplaces engagement can be increased. Being occasionally mentioned in the policy documents or invited to take part in climate or cycling-focused initiatives, workplaces in Stockholm are now at different stages in their willingness to have travel policies and participate in on-site mobility management. Internal and external factors influence the motivation of public and private, larger and smaller workplaces differently. With further research, comprehensive communication, questioning the status quo and establishing a constant dialogue between the city and workplaces there is a big potential to involve workplaces as new actors into various existing initiatives.

Sammanfattning Mobilitetsplaneringen har växt fram från globala trender som stärks av urbaniseringen, den tekniska utvecklingen och nya mobilitetsbehov. Mobilitetsplaneringen framför nya krav gällande sociala, ekonomiska och hållbara aspekter och är i behov av nya mobilitetslösningar. Bäst praktik, används inom internationella och nationella nätverk, för att dela nya lösningar, processer och innovationer. En mobilitetslösning som delas genom kunskapsdelningsmetoden bäst praktik, är det nya fenomenet mobilitetshus. Idag saknas en gemensam definition av mobilitetshus, vilket skapar oklarhet för mobilitetsplaneringen. Syftet med studien är att undersöka fenomenet mobilitetshus; dels vilken funktion ett mobilitetshus är tänkt att fylla och vilka transportbehov det är tänkt att adressera och dels att undersöka planeringen av bäst praktik angående mobilitetshus i Sverige. Studien undersöker exempel på befintliga och planerade mobilitetshus i Sverige. Studiens valda metoder grundas av befintlig teori och metodologi gällande bäst praktik. Kunskapsdelningen av bäst praktik kommer att förstås som en diskursiv process. Metoderna har ett förhållningssätt till befintlig data som innefattar Sveriges planering av det nya fenomenet mobilitetshus. Genom dokumentstudie, litteraturstudie och platsbesök, samlas en omfattande data för bäst praktik angående mobilitetshus i Sverige. Studiens resultat för de empiriska frågeställningarna delger att det finns en otydlighet av mobilitetshus definition och innehåll. Studien konstaterar att det saknas uppföljningsdokument, som redogör mobilitetshusens inverkan, resultat och funktion i staden. Studien rekommenderar att planeringen med bäst praktik angående mobilitetshus skulle kunna underlättas, genom att skapagemensamma förståelser av vad för “problem” mobilitetshus ska förväntas lösa i staden. I studien framkommer även att bäst praktik som kunskapsdelningsmetod, bidrar till en läroprocess. Lärprocessen tydliggörs vid undersökningen av befintliga och planerade mobilitetshus i Sverige.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att bidra till ökad kunskap och resonera kring biltrafikens potentiella negativa konsekvenser för stadsplaneringen inom flera svenska städer och med Helsingborg som exempel. I denna fallstudie presenteras bilens historia och uppkomst i Sverige och hur planeringen av de svenska städerna och samhället har präglats av biltrafiken. Hållbarhet kopplas starkt till trafik och städers utveckling och därför belyses även begreppet i uppsatsen. Metoderna för arbetet har baserats på vetenskapliga böcker och artiklar samt intervjuer med tjänstepersoner från kommunen som är insatta i ämnet. Resultatet från detta arbete har varit bland annat svar på frågeställningar där jag i undersökningen har åstadkommit svar för hur situationen i Helsingborg förefaller.Helsingborg är en svensk stad belägen i söder av nationen i region Skåne vid Öresund mittemot Danmark. Staden har en viktigt geografisk placering då den påverkar utvecklingsmöjligheterna för omkringliggande område, kommuner och regioner. Staden bemöter problem med luftföroreningar som överstiger gränsen för normal förorening och dessutom svårigheter med biltrafiken som drabbar invånarna med bullernivåer, olyckor, otrygghet, trängsel som är motbjudande och konkurrerar samt ständigt hotar andra färdmedels förutsättningar. Ett verktyg som Helsingborgs kommun har i förfogande för att minska biltrafikens resor är bland annat parkering, tillgänglighet av andra färdmedel och nya förtätade hållbara stadsförnyelseprojekt som exempelvis H+. / The purpose of this study is to further develop knowledge of this topic and discuss the potential negative effects of car traffic on urban planning in multitude of Swedish cities, with Helsingborg as an example. In the study, the car's historical importance and origin in Sweden is presented and how the planning of the Swedish cities and society has been characterized by car traffic. Sustainability is vigorously associated with the development of traffic and cities and therefore the term is also highlighted in the essay. The methods for this work have been based on scientific books and articles as well as interviews conducted with officials from the municipality who are acquainted with the matter at hand. The results of this work have been primarily answers to question formulations inquired in the outset of the attained examination. The answers were cited after analysis in relation to the situation in Helsingborg.Helsingborg is a Swedish city located in the south of the nation in the region of Skåne by the Öresund, opposite of Denmark. The city has an important geographical location as it affects the development opportunities of the surrounding area, municipalities and regions. The city faces complications regarding air pollution with numbers exceeding the limit of normal pollution. Other issues generated as repercussions of car traffic that affects residents substantially are excessively high noise levels, accidents, insecurity, congestion which is repulsive and consistently competing as well as constantly threatening the conditions of other means of conveyance. One tool that the Municipality of Helsingborg has at their disposal in order to reduce car travel is predominantly parking, availability accessibility of other means of transport and also new densified sustainable urban renewal projects such as H+.

Le SDN (Software-Defined Networking) émerge comme une nouvelle architecture pour la programmation des réseaux. A l'origine, l'idée du SDN est de déplacer le plan de contrôle à l'extérieur des équipements, et de permettre ainsi un contrôle déporté de l'ensemble depuis une entité logicielle logique nommée "contrôleur". Le principal avantage d'une telle approche est de centraliser donc toute l'intelligence de gestion du réseau dans le contrôleur, qui s'appuie pour cela sur des protocoles standard et assure par ce biais la reprogrammation de la totalité de la partie du réseau sous son contrôle. L'évolution technologique vers le SDN est toujours en cours dans des scénarios de déploiement programmable et flexible des réseaux mobiles. Le NFV (Network Function Virtualization) est le processus de déplacement ou de migration des fonctions réseau d'un équipement dédié de réseau vers des serveurs génériques dans le Cloud. Les SDN et NFV sont deux technologies étroitement liées qui sont souvent utilisées ensemble. Le couplage fort entre les plans de contrôle et de données, ainsi que les limitations en matière de passage à l'échelle et de flexibilité, font que la virtualisation des réseaux mobiles actuels nécessite non seulement l'utilisation du Cloud Computing mais aussi les récentes innovations telles que SDN et NFV pour pouvoir permettre un déploiement à la demande des services réseaux (Network-as-a-Service) aux utilisateurs. Les lignes de recherche globales de cette thèse s'inscrivent dans deux principaux cas d'utilisation. Ces cas d'utilisation, bien qu'appelés de la "prochaine génération de réseaux mobiles", sont le "Telco" et le "Vertical", qui apparaissent ici couplés, les deux étant traditionnellement complètement séparés. Dans les cas d'utilisation de "télécommunications", nous exploitons les avantages de SDN pour avoir un cadre de contrôle flexible pour les réseaux d'auto-organisation (SON) et la division de traitement dynamique des utilisateurs. Dans le cas d'utilisation de "verticale", nous appliquons divers avantages du protocole SDN et OpenFlow pour utiliser efficacement les ressources radio du réseau de backhaul dans le système de communication train-sol. Notre cadre d'étude du SDN, en général, peut être une solution efficace et alternative pour la gestion RAN (Radio Access Network), c'est-à-dire pour des objectives comme l'optimisation des ressources radio, l'optimisation du réseau, la gestion de la mobilité et l'équilibrage de la charge, peuvent être atteint avec ce cadre. Grâce à l'analyse et l'expérimentation concrète des SDN et NFV pour le RAN, nous montrons que les solutions proposées dans ce travail peuvent apporter un faisceau d'avantages évidents aux réseaux mobiles tels que la flexibilité, la programmabilité, la gestion unifiée et la mise en œuvre de nouveaux services / Software-Defined Networking (SDN) has emerged as a new intelligent architecture for network programmability. The primary idea behind SDN is to move the control-plane outside the switches and enable external control of data-plane through a logical software entity called controller. Such approach benefits mobile network management by brining complete intelligence to the logically centralized controller. Network Function Virtualization (NFV) is the process of relocating or migrating network functions from dedicated hardware to generic servers. SDN and NFV are two closely related technologies that are often used together. The traditional mobile network architecture due to its strongest coupling between control and data planes along with limitations in scalability and flexibility requires the usage of cloud computing along with the recent revolutionary approaches in networking such as SDN and NFV to have an architecture that deploys on demand "Network-as-a-Service" for users. The global research focus of this thesis falls in to two main use cases of next generation mobile networks such as Telco and Vertical. In the telco use cases, we exploit the advantages of SDN to have flexible control framework for both Self-Organizing Networks (SON) and dynamic user processing split. In vertical use case, we apply various advantages of SDN and OpenFlow protocol to efficiently utilize the scare radio resources of wireless backhaul network in the train-to-ground communication system. Our SDN framework in general can be an efficient and alternative solution for RAN management i.e. Radio Optimization, Network Optimization, Mobility Management and Load Balancing can be achieved with such framework. Through analysis and experimentation of SDN frameworks for RAN, we shows that the proposed solutions can bring set of advantages to wireless networks such as flexibility, programmability, unified management, and enables new services

In the early stages of wireless sensor networks (WSNs), low data rate traffic patterns are assumed as applications have a single purpose with simple sensing task and data packets are generated at a rate of minutes or hours. As such, most of the proposed communication protocols focus on energy efficiency rather than high throughput. Emerging high data rate applications motivate bulk data transfer protocols to achieve high throughput. The basic idea is to enable nodes to transmit a sequence of packets in burst once they obtain a medium. However, due to the low-power, low-cost nature, the transceiver used in wireless sensor networks is prone to packet loss. Especially when the transmitters are mobile, packet loss becomes worse. To reduce the energy expenditure caused by packet loss and retransmission, a burst transmission scheme is required that can adapt to the link dynamics and estimate the number of packets to transmit in burst. As the mobile node is moving within the network, it cannot always maintain a stable link with one specific stationary node. When link deterioration is constantly detected, the mobile node has to initiate a handover process to seamlessly transfer the communication to a new relay node before the current link breaks. For this reason, it is vital for a mobile node to (1) determine whether a fluctuation in link quality eventually results in a disconnection, (2) foresee potential disconnection well ahead of time and establish an alternative link before the disconnection occurs, and (3) seamlessly transfer communication to the new link. In this dissertation, we focus on dealing with burst transmission and handover issues in low power mobile wireless sensor networks. To this end, we begin with designing a novel mobility enabled testing framework as the evaluation testbed for all our remaining studies. We then perform an empirical study to investigate the link characteristics in mobile environments. Using these observations as guidelines, we propose three algorithms related to mobility that will improve network performance in terms of latency and throughput: i) Mobility Enabled Testing Framework (MobiLab). Considering the high fluctuation of link quality during mobility, protocols supporting mobile wireless sensor nodes should be rigorously tested to ensure that they produce predictable outcomes before actual deployment. Furthermore, considering the typical size of wireless sensor networks and the number of parameters that can be configured or tuned, conducting repeated and reproducible experiments can be both time consuming and costly. The conventional method for evaluating the performance of different protocols and algorithms under different network configurations is to change the source code and reprogram the testbed, which requires considerable effort. To this end, we present a mobility enabled testbed for carrying out repeated and reproducible experiments, independent of the application or protocol types which should be tested. The testbed consists of, among others, a server side control station and a client side traffic ow controller which coordinates inter- and intra-experiment activities. ii) Adaptive Burst Transmission Scheme for Dynamic Environment. Emerging high data rate applications motivate bulk data transfer protocol to achieve high throughput. The basic idea is to enable nodes to transmit a sequence of packets in burst once they obtain a medium. Due to the low-power and low-cost nature, the transceiver used in wireless sensor networks is prone to packet loss. When the transmitter is mobile, packet loss becomes even worse. The existing bulk data transfer protocols are not energy efficient since they keep their radios on even while a large number of consecutive packet losses occur. To address this challenge, we propose an adaptive burst transmission scheme (ABTS). In the design of the ABTS, we estimate the expected duration in which the quality of a specific link remains stable using the conditional distribution function of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of received acknowledgment packets. We exploit the expected duration to determine the number of packets to transmit in burst and the duration of the sleeping period. iii) Kalman Filter Based Handover Triggering Algorithm (KMF). Maintaining a stable link in mobile wireless sensor network is challenging. In the design of the KMF, we utilized combined link quality metrics in physical and link layers, such as Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and packet success rate (PSR), to estimate link quality fluctuation online. Then Kalman filter is adopted to predict link dynamics ahead of time. If a predicted link quality fulfills handover trigger criterion, a handover process will be initiated to discover alternative relay nodes and establish a new link before the disconnection occurs. iv) Mobile Sender Initiated MAC Protocol (MSI-MAC). In cellular networks, mobile stations are always associated with the nearest base station through intra- and inter-cellular handover. The underlying process is that the quality of an established link is continually evaluated and handover decisions are made by resource rich base stations. In wireless sensor networks, should a seamless handover be carried out, the task has to be accomplished by energy-constraint, resource-limited, and low-power wireless sensor nodes in a distributed manner. To this end, we present MSI-MAC, a mobile sender initiated MAC protocol to enable seamless handover.