An ILNP-based solution for future heterogeneous wireless networks

Utilization of the different wireless interfaces (Cellular, Wi-Fi and WiMAX) that come with many of the Mobile Nodes today is central to improving Quality of Experience and Quality of Service in future networks. Although the interfaces are of different technologies as are the access links, the core/backbone networks are now based on IP infrastructure. Efforts to simplify network handover between these technologies – termed vertical handover (VHO) – have not been successful with IP due its mechanism for managing nodes’ identity and location. Researchers have defined and implemented some solutions that proposed the separation of identity of a Mobile Node from its location, and among those proposals is the Identifier Locator Network Protocol (ILNP). In this work, we propose a Linux-based implementation of the ILNPv6 protocol – an instance of the ILNP that is compatible with IPv6 – on laboratory testbed. We also proposed an Information Server managing a defined geographical location we called AREA, to augment some of the shortfalls that we observed with ILNP. We believe that this combination provides the necessary ground for achieving seamless VHO in heterogeneous wireless environments of the future