Location-Aware Fast Handover in Proxy Mobile IPv6

In a reactive handover, a Mobile Node (MN) handover procedure is not prepared before the event. Since such handovers are performed for roaming MNs in Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6), there are limitations in reducing MN handover latency and preventing packet loss. If a handover is predictable and a handover can be prepared beforehand, the handover latency and packet loss can be minimized. To prevent packet loss and reduce handover latency during an MN handover, proactive handover schemes have been proposed as well as buffering schemes. However, these schemes do not determine the exact starting point of the MN handover. In this work, a scheme is proposed to a support proactive MN handover to prevent packet loss, and to minimize handover latency and buffering cost, based on the MN's location information in PMIPv6. Our proposed scheme decides the exact moment of the MN handover and the next network to which the MN roams based on the MN's location information. It is compared to existing schemes through mathematical analysis and simulation. The results of performance evaluation show that our proposed scheme reduces handover latency, signaling cost, and buffering cost effectively compared to the existing schemes.