Abstract:

Next generation mobile communications will rely on integrated networks consisting of multiple wireless access technologies such as WiFi, WiMAX, GSM and UMTS. With variety of access technologies, mobile users want to take diverse advantage without any disruptions when they move from one place to another. Seamless handover in between homogeneous or heterogeneous wireless access networks will be a key to provide mobile users with required QoS. To achieve seamless handover in vehicular environment, total handover delay must be very short. This paper proposes a location aware fast handover technique for vertical handover between WiMAX and WiFi networks to minimize target network detection delay, select proper target network for handover and eliminate Ping-Pong effect. The proposed technique aims to reduce the total handover latency and can be applied to realize seamless handover between WiMAX and WiFi networks.