An approach to transport layer handover of VoIP over WLAN

In this paper a transport layer handover mechanism for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) using the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) is proposed. This handover mechanism utilizes the multi-homing feature of SCTP to allow connection to multiple wireless networks. Each available wireless network is probed with simulated VoIP data to obtain network performance metrics. Handover decisions are made based on the Mean Opinion Score (MOS) calculated from the ITU-T E-Model for voice quality assessment using the obtained measurements. Implementation and simulations were carried out using the NS2 network simulator. The results show the MOS obtained using the proposed handover mechanism on IEEE 802.11b WLAN access points (APs) under varying load conditions. High correlation is shown between the MOS from the proposed handover scheme and the MOS experienced by a VoIP node present in the network. A simulation showing an SCTP endpoint handover between AP's is presented.