Handoff between WiMAX and WiFi wireless networks

To provide user with seamless roaming and service continuity are some of the prime challenges of future wireless access networks. Therefore there is a need to combine various wireless access technologies so that user gets non interrupted service. In the present time there are various wireless technologies such as WiFi which allow the user to stay on always and also provide seamless connectivity to the internet. But WiFi has some limitation as its range is limited. On the other hand WiMAX is comparatively novel but provides the coverage of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System and speed of WiFi. Thus by combining Wifi and WiMAX we can create a wireless solution which can provide efficient speed and coverage for mobile users. In this context handover is an important procedure which defines the switching between the two networks. In this paper we use AODV protocol to calculate the lost packet rate and assess the performance of intra system handover and inter system handover between WiFi and WiMAX.