A Simple Remedy for Idle Mode via Proxy MIP

While recent wireless networks begin to support mobile Internet protocol (MIP), even the latest wireless network technologies such as IEEE 802.16 wireless metropolitan area networks (WMANs), IEEE 802.11 wireless local area networks (WLANs), and high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) are limited in exploiting idle mode under mobile environments in which MIP is employed since they are designed without considering MIP combined with idle mode. In other words, an idle mobile station (MS) should perform MIP handoffs despite that it cannot receive anything while staying in idle mode, and hence, it incurs inexpedient operations. We propose a simple protocol, which makes idle mode integrated with MIP seamlessly by utilizing proxy MIP (PMIP). It processes MIP handoffs on behalf of idle MS, thus allowing idle MS to stay in idle mode consistently.