RA Beaconing Optimization for Fast Handoff in IPv6 Wireless Networks

In this paper we present an original approach to speed up the auto-configuration of mobile nodes in Mobile IPv6. The handoff process associated with movement of mobile nodes in IP networks has to face the delays arising to guarantee the reachability of the node, while preserving packets to be lost because of the movement. Here we deal with the reduction of address auto-configuration delay. This could be reached by means of a modulation (beaconing) of the frequency of Router Advertisement (RA) messages sent by the Access Router. The algorithm is based on a classical LMSE prediction. Simulations confirm that the beaconing of RA messages can decrease by the handoff setup time due to address configuration. Moreover, the tradeoff between bandwidth-occupation/handoff-delay is acceptable, with respect to other schemes based on constant rate of RA messages. Finally, we give directions of further improvements for cases not considered in the present work.