An IPv4/IPv6 Traversal Scheme with Seamless Mobility Support over Heterogeneous Wireless Networks

This paper proposes a new IPv4/IPv6 traversal scheme based on a scalable network-based IP mobility management system, called Access Independent Mobile Service (AIMS), which can provide MNs with high-quality mobility services over various wireless access networks. The proposed AIMS with IPv4/IPv6 Dual Stack Support (AIMS-DS) scheme can support an MN moving continuously across the IPv4/IPv6 coexisting networks by IPv4/IPv6 address binding and dynamic transport control based on the IP-in-IP tunnel method. It inherits the novel features of the AIMS system including complete separation control and data planes in the core network and cross-layer (layer2 and 3) interworking method for handover control optimization. The performance evaluation results from our simulation study show that the proposed scheme properly handles a dual stack MN’s handovers across IPv4/IPv6 coexisting networks. It is also shown that the proposed scheme outperforms the existing approach in some performance factors including packet delivery latency and handover latency.