The multimedia service session handoff method in heterogeneous wireless networks

The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) can provide multimedia services between heterogeneous wireless networks. But the efficiency of the service session handoff will bring a significant impact to user experience. For the integration of heterogeneous wireless networks, we propose a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) based multimedia service session handoff method named MS2HM. To reduce the handoff delay between heterogeneous wireless networks, the MS 2HM uses the methods of advance registration and old-new address temporary matching. We modelled the node processing delay and network transmission delay, and analyse the total delay and the packet loss rate of the MS2HM. Specially, this paper contrastively analyses the handoff delay under different frame error control in the 3G-WLAN integrated network, and the result shows that MS2HM has lower handoff delay than the method proposed by Wedlund and Schulzrinne. The MS2HM can meet the low delay and low packet loss rate requirements of IMS service session handoff between heterogeneous wireless networks, and ensure the QoS of the IMS services. © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.