A Study on Performance of Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 in IP-Based Cellular Networks

TLDR

Next‑generation IP‑based cellular networks integrate Internet with existing cellular infrastructure, and Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 (HMIPv6) was introduced by the IETF to reduce signaling and improve handoff latency, though network performance still depends on parameters such as mobility models and traffic patterns. The study aims to analyze the performance of HMIPv6 when deployed in IP‑based cellular networks. The authors develop random‑walk and fluid‑flow analytic models to compute location update and packet delivery costs, and examine how cell residence time, user population, and session‑to‑mobility ratio affect total cost, including determining the optimal MAP domain size. The analysis shows how total cost varies with the session‑to‑mobility ratio and identifies an optimal MAP domain size that minimizes the overall cost.

Abstract

SUMMARY Next-generation wireless/mobile networks will be IPbased cellular networks integrating Internet with the existing cellular networks. Recently, Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 (HMIPv6) was proposed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for efficient mobility management. HMIPv6 reduces the amount of signaling and improves the performance of MIPv6 in terms of handoff latency. Although HMIPv6 is an efficient scheme, the performance of wireless networks is highly dependent on various system parameters such as user mobility model, packet arrival pattern, etc. Therefore, it is essential to analyze the network performance when HMIPv6 is deployed in IP-based cellular networks. In this paper, we develop two analytic models for the performance analysis of HMIPv6 in IP-based cellular networks, which are based on the random-walk and the fluid-flow models. Based on these analytic models, we formulate the location update cost and the packet delivery cost. Then, we analyze the impact of cell residence time and user population on the location update cost and the packet delivery cost, respectively. In addition, we study the variation of the total cost as the session-to-mobility ratio is changed and the optimal MAP domain size to minimize the total cost is also investigated.