Mobility management for all-IP mobile networks: mobile IPv6 vs. proxy mobile IPv6

TLDR

Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6) is a network‑based mobility management protocol under active IETF standardization and is gaining attention as a potentially faster‑to‑deploy alternative to host‑based Mobile IPv6. This article aims to validate the network‑based approach by providing qualitative and quantitative analyses of Mobile IPv6 and PMIPv6, emphasizing PMIPv6’s key strengths. The authors conduct a comprehensive comparison of existing mobility support protocols, including both host‑based and network‑based approaches. Despite its early development stage, PMIPv6 is expected to be a promising candidate for next‑generation all‑IP mobile networks.

Abstract

Recently, a network-based mobility management protocol called Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6) is being actively standardized by the IETF NETLMM working group, and is starting to attract considerable attention among the telecommunication and Internet communities. Unlike the various existing protocols for IP mobility management such as Mobile IPv6 (MIPv6), which are host-based approaches, a network-based approach such as PMIPv6 has salient features and is expected to expedite the real deployment of IP mobility management. In this article, starting by showing the validity of a network-based approach, we present qualitative and quantitative analyses of the representative host-based and network-based mobility management approaches (i.e., MIPv6 and PMIPv6), which highlight the main desirable features and key strengths of PMIPv6. Furthermore, a comprehensive comparison among the various existing well-known mobility support protocols is investigated. Although the development of PMIPv6 is at an early stage yet, it is strongly expected that PMIPv6 will be a promising candidate solution for realizing the next-generation all-IP mobile networks.