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Seamless Handover in Heterogeneous Networks using SIP A Proactive Handover Scheme with the Handover Extension

Authors:
Elin Sundby Boysen
Torleiv Maseng

Keywords: SIP; Mobility; Seamless handover; 3G; WiFi

Abstract:
Mobile users move across different types of network, such as WiFi, WiMAX and UMTS. The mobile equipment is already capable of connecting to different network types simultaneously, but in such a heterogeneous environment, session continuity is still a challenge when changing connection from one network to another. The differences in properties on the physical layer and link layer promote higher-layer solutions for handover. Several architectures have already been proposed in either the network layer, in the application layer or as hybrid solutions. The application-layer-based Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) supports terminal mobility, but this procedure suffers from long handover delays. To ensure session continuity during handover we propose a new SIP extension, the Handover header that enables seamless handover. In the handover scheme we propose in this paper, we use the SIP Handover extension with a back-to-back user agent (B2BUA) that is deployed in the home domain of the mobile user. The handover can be assisted by either the B2BUA or the correspondent node.

Pages: 184 to 193

Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2009. Used with permission.

Publication date: June 7, 2009

Published in: journal

ISSN: 1942-2652