Performance Evaluation of Network Mobility Paradigms

Abstract

Despite the fact that Internet Protocol (IP) mobility - either for individual hosts or for entire networks - has been the subject of intense research for more than a decade, and that mobility solutions have been in existence for some time, the truth is that the behavior of these solutions under realistic conditions is largely unknown. In this respect, and specifically for the more demanding case of network mobility, several questions come to mind. Are the existing mobility paradigms adequate for generalized IP mobility? How will they behave in realistic scenarios and under considerable load? Are they scalable? This chapter addresses these questions by studying and comparing three existing network mobility paradigms: legacy, network-based and client-based. The study, performed through emulation in a scenario with real wireless links, actual mobility, and varying load, identifies the limitations of each paradigm, pointing to the very good potential of client-based network mobility solutions.