Performance analysis of fast handover in mobile IPv6 networks

The Fast Handover protocol [1] provides seamless handover in wireless IP networks by minimizing handover latency. To reduce handover latency and to provide faster handover, Fast Handover uses anticipation based on layer 2 (L2) trigger information. Therefore, it incurs higher signaling costs compared with the basic Mobile IP protocol. Furthermore, since the L2 trigger is based on fluctuating wireless channel states, the handover anticipation using the L2 trigger may sometimes be incorrect. In the case of incorrect anticipation, unnecessary buffer space may be used for the purpose of providing a smooth handover. Therefore, it is essential to analyze these overhead costs, in order to evaluate and compare the performance of Fast Handover with that of the basic Mobile IP protocol. In this paper, we analyzed the overhead associated with Fast Handover including the signaling cost and the packet delivery cost. We formulated these costs based on a timing diagram and compared Fast Handover with basic Mobile IPv6 in terms of their packet loss rates and buffer requirements. Also, we studied the impact of the L2 triggering time on the total overhead cost. As a result, we found that the L2 triggering time is an important factor to consider in the optimization of handover performance.