Abstract-Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6) is a network-based mobility support protocol and it does not require Mobile Nodes (MNs) to be involved in the mobility support signaling. In the case when multiple interfaces are active in an MN simultaneously, each data flow can be dynamically allocated to and redirected between different access networks to adapt to the dynamically changing network status and to balance the workload. Such a flow redistribution control is called "flow mobility". In the existing PMIPv6-based flow mobility support, although the MN's logical interface can solve the well-known problems of flow mobility in a heterogeneous network, some missing procedures, such as an MN-derived flow handover, make PMIPv6-based flow mobility incomplete. In this paper, an enhanced flow mobility support is proposed for actualizing the flow mobility support in PMIPv6. The proposed scheme is also based on the MN's logical interface, which hides the physical interfaces from the network layer and above. As new functional modules, the flow interface manager is placed at the MN's logical interface and the flow binding manager in the Local Mobility Anchor (LMA) is paired with the MN's flow interface manager. They manage the flow bindings, and select the proper access technology to send packets. In this paper, we provide the complete flow mobility procedures which begin with the following three different triggering cases: the MN's new connection/disconnection, the LMA's decision, and the MN's request. Simulation using the ns-3 network simulator is performed to verify the proposed procedures and we show the network throughput variation caused by the network offload using the proposed procedures.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

PMIPv6 is proposed as a new network-based mobility protocol and it does not require MN's involving in mobility signaling. PMIPv6 can handover relatively faster than MIPv6 because of using link layer attachment information and micro mobility characteristic. However, current PMIPv6 cannot prevent packet loss in disruption period. We proposed in this paper, Smart Buffering scheme for supporting seamless handover in PMIPv6. Smart Buffering scheme prevents packet loss totally by buffering lost candidate packets in a current serving MAG and forwarding it to a new MAG, after an MN successfully connected. Smart Buffering also performs redundant packet removing in a previous MAG and packet reordering in a new MAG to maximize performance of seamless handover. All these procedures between a previous MAG and a new MAG are processed using simple message exchanges without requiring any involving of an MN. We verified the effectiveness of the Smart Buffering by simulation with various parameters. Simulation results prove that proposed scheme prevent packet loss in the handover and handle buffered packets very efficiently. As a result, we conclude that Smart Buffering is very useful for supporting seamless handover in PMIPv6.