Seamless communication is becoming the main aspect for the next generation of the mobile and wireless networks. Roaming among multiple wireless access networks connected together through one IP core makes the mobility support for the internet is very critical and more important research topics nowadays. Mobile IP is one of the most successful solutions for the mobility support in the IP based networks, but it has poor performance in term of handover delay. Many improvements have been done to reduce the handover delay, which result in two new standards: the Hierarchical MIP (HMIP) and the Fast MIP (FMIP), but the delay still does not match the seamless handover requirements. Finally Seamless MIP (S-MIP) has been suggested by many work groups, which combine between an intelligent handover algorithm and a movement tracking scheme. In This thesis, we show the handover delay reduction approaches, specifically the Seamless Mobile IP. The thesis studies the effects of the S-MIP in the handover delay and the network performance as well. A simulation study takes place to compare between the standard MIP and the new suggested S-MIP protocol in term of handover delay, packet loss and bandwidth requirement. The thesis concludes with the analyzing of the simulation results, evaluating the S-MIP performance and finally gives some suggestions for the future work. / 0046704623257

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / O uso de dispositivos multi-interface, tais como smart phones, tem crescido ao mesmo tempo que as demandas por melhores serviÃos de mobilidade em redes heterogÃneas. Neste cenÃrio, a ideia da continuidade de serviÃos tornou-se um requisito crucial. Para atender essas demandas, esquemas eficientes de handover devem ser desenvolvidos com o objetivo de alcanÃar o chamado Handover Transparente, que significa a mudanÃa de domÃnios de rede de uma forma transparente e sem a descontinuidade dos serviÃos para o usuÃrio final. Atualmente, existem diferentes esquemas de handover e alguns deles podem envolver diferentes tecnologias de acesso (Handover Vertical). Entretanto, o tempo de interrupÃÃo do serviÃo ainda à um problema a ser resolvido. A principal proposta deste trabalho à uma melhoria para Handovers Verticais utilizando mobilidade IP, objetivando o tÃo desejado Handover Transparente. Neste trabalho, fez-se uso do framework MIH (Media Independent Handover) fornecido pelo padrÃo IEEE 802.21 para habilitar o handover vertical em redes heterogÃneas. AlÃm disso, propÃe-se uma extensÃo do protocolo FMIPv6 (Fast Handovers for Mobile IPv6), o FaHMA (Fast Handovers using Multicast Addressing), utilizando endereÃamento multicast para gerenciar a mobilidade nesses tipos de rede. Para fazer a anÃlise de desempenho, simulaÃÃes foram utilizadas considerando-se mÃtricas tais com o atraso do handover e a perda de pacotes como os critÃrios mais importantes para avaliar a efetividade da soluÃÃo. Os resultados destas simulaÃÃes mostraram que o FaHMA obtÃm melhores resultados que o FMIPv6, inclusive em relaÃÃo aos fatores que determinam a qualidade do funcionamento de aplicaÃÃes multimÃdias em rede. / The use of multi-interface devices such as smart phones has grown at the same time as the demands for efficient mobility services in heterogeneous networks. In this scenario, the idea of service continuity has become a crucial requirement. To achieve these demands, efficient handover schemes should be developed aiming to achieve Seamless Handover, which means the change of network domains in a transparent way and without services discontinuity to the end user. Currently, there are different schemes for handover and some of them may be used between different access technologies (Vertical Handover). However, the service time disruption is still a major problem to be solved. The main purpose of this study is to propose an improvement for Vertical Handovers using IP mobility, aiming at Seamless Handover. In this work, the framework provided by the MIH (Media Independent Handover) IEEE 802.21 is used to enable vertical handover in heterogeneous networks, and propose an extension of FMIPv6 (Fast Handovers for Mobile IPv6) called FaHMA (Fast Handovers using Multicast Addressing), using multicast in order to manage mobility in these types of networks. To make the performance analysis, we decided for simulations and we considerered metrics such as the handover delay and packet loss as the most important criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of our proposal. Simulation results have shown that FaHMA achieve better results than FMIPv6, including factors that determine the quality of operation in networked multimedia applications.

Globally, the number of mobile broadband subscriptions is growing and the amount of mobile data traffic is expected to continue to grow rapidly. In the next five years the number of smartphone subscriptions is expected to more than double, while the amount of mobile traffic per active subscription per month of these subscribers is expected to nearly quadruple. As a consequence, mobile network operators (MNOs) aim to increase radio network capacity and coverage through heterogeneous deployments. In such heterogeneous networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs) are integrated with wireless wide area networks (WWANs), and there exist a tight interaction between them. The almost-ubiquitous support for IEEE802.11 WLANs (usually referred to as Wi-Fi®) makes this radio access technology a potential integrated component of near-future mobile broadband. With Wi-Fi completely integrated into mobile access, MNOs would optimize user experience and use of resources by controlling device’s choice of connectivity. In addition to guaranteeing the best user experience, optimal use of access networks should care about energy-efficiency in order to extend device’s battery life. However, the performance of Wi-Fi is far from meet neither energy-efficiency nor quality of service (QoS) user’s requirements. This radio access technology employs an energy-consuming medium access control (MAC) protocol that wastes both bandwidth and device’s energy resources. Therefore, enhanced MAC protocols, cleverly combined with standardized power saving mechanisms such as automatic power save delivery (APSD), would improve both energy-efficiency and QoS in order to enhance WLANs performance and meet user’s expectations. In addition, current WLAN discovery mechanisms neither meet requirements of the integrated scenario. Handover operations must be improved in terms of energy efficiency and latency. Consequently, enhanced handover schemes should reduce overall device’s energy consumption during the process, and enable seamless handover between Wi-Fi APs and between cellular/Wi-Fi networks. During this thesis project, the main challenges of Wi-Fi towards its integration into mobile access broadband have been analyzed. Consequently, a solution has been designed in order to address the identified challenges, which have been introduced in the previous paragraphs. The solution consists of enhancements for IEEE 802.11 WLANs based on current standards that achieve energy-efficiency and QoS, and facilitate Wi-Fi/cellular networks interworking. Finally, a custom-designed simulator has been used to evaluate the proposed solution. / Globalt sett är antalet mobila bredbandsabonnemang ökar och mängden av mobil datatrafik förväntas fortsätta att växa snabbt. Under de kommande fem åren kommer antalet smartphone-abonnemang väntas mer än fördubblas, medan mängden av mobiltrafiken per aktiv prenumeration per månad för dessa abonnenter väntas nästan fyrdubbla. Som en följd av mobiloperatörer som mål att öka sin radio nätkapacitet och täckning genom heterogena distributioner. I sådana heterogena nätverk, är trådlösa lokala nätverk (WLAN) integrerad med trådlösa WAN-nätverk (WWAN), och det finns en tät interaktion mellan dem. För att möta denna efterfrågan ämnar operatörer av mobila nätverk att öka kapacitet och täckning genom att bygga ut heterogena nätverk. I sådana heterogena nätverk integreras trådlösa lokala nätverk (WLAN) med nätverk med större yttäckning (cellulära nät) med täta interaktioner mellan de olika näten. Det mycket utbredda stödet för IEEE 802.11-standarden (ofta kallad för Wi-Fi®) för WLAN gör denna radioaccessteknik till en potentiell integrerad komponent för mobilt bredband i den nära framtiden. Med Wi-Fi som en integrerad i det mobila accessnätet kan mobilnätsoperatörer optimera användarupplevelsen och resursanvädningen genom att styra de mobila enheternas val av uppkoppling. Förutom att garantera den bästa användarupplevelsen så bör valet av accessnät ta hänsyn till energieffektiviteten för att förlänga batteridrifttiden för den mobila enheten. Wi-Fi är dock långt ifrån att uppfylla användarnas krav på energieffektivitet och tjänstekvalitet, eftersom denna radioaccessteknik använder ett mediumaccessprotokoll (MAC) som varken använder bandbredd eller batterienergi effektivt. Därför kan förbättrade MAC-protokoll kombinerade med standardiserade energibesparingslösningar såsom automatic power save delivery (APSD) ge bättre energieffektivitet och tjänstekvalitet, och därmed förbättra WLANs möjligheter att möta användarnas förväntningar. Dessutom har nuvarande nätverksidentifieringsmekanismer i WLAN svårt att uppfylla kraven i ett scenario med integrerade nätverk, eftersom den nuvarande sökmetoden är långsam och använder mycket energi. En förbättrad lösning bör minska energikonsumtionen under hela processen, och möjliggöra avbrottsfri övergång mellan Wi-Fi accessnoder och mellan cellulära och Wi-Fi-nätverk. Under detta examensarbete har de största utmaningarna för Wi-Fi under integrationen med mobil bredbandsaccess analyserats. En lösning har utvecklats för att lösa de identifierade problemen som beskrivits ovan. Lösningen består av förbättringar av IEEE 802.11 accessnät, som bygger vidare på existerande standardens energieffektivitets- och tjänstekvalitetslösningar och underlättar samverkan mellan Wi-Fi och cellulära nätverk. Slutligen har en egenutvecklad simulator använts för att utvärdera den föreslagna lösningen.