Strategies for fast scanning and handovers in WiMAX/802.16

In WiMAX/IEEE 802.16 with mobility support, scanning for an available channel by a mobile station, at start up or when about to perform a handover must be done promptly in order to reduce delays in network access. We propose strategies that a mobile station can use to reduce the time required for scanning operations while attempting to establish network connectivity or perform a handover between neighboring base stations. We model and simulate an area of WiMAX coverage using real-world mobility trace data and show that there are strategies that reduce the time required for scanning operations significantly.

[1]  Ieee Microwave Theory,et al.  Part 16: Air Interface for Fixed and Mobile Broadband Wireless Access Systems — Amendment for Physical and Medium Access Control Layers for Combined Fixed and Mobile Operation in Licensed Bands , 2003 .

[2]  Virtual Bridged,et al.  IEEE Standards for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks: Specification for 802.3 Full Duplex Operation , 1997, IEEE Std 802.3x-1997 and IEEE Std 802.3y-1997 (Supplement to ISO/IEC 8802-3: 1996/ANSI/IEEE Std 802.3, 1996 Edition).

[3]  S. Wang,et al.  IEEE standard 802.16: a technical overview of the WirelessMAN/sup TM/ air interface for broadband wireless access , 2002, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[4]  Dharma P. Agrawal,et al.  Introduction to Wireless and Mobile Systems , 2002 .

[5]  Chong-kwon Kim,et al.  A Seamless Handover Mechanism for IEEE 802.16e Broadband Wireless Access , 2005, International Conference on Computational Science.

[6]  Taesoo Kwon,et al.  Fast handover scheme for real-time downlink services in IEEE 802.16e BWA system , 2005, 2005 IEEE 61st Vehicular Technology Conference.

[7]  Youn-Hee Han,et al.  Mobile IPv6 Fast Handovers over IEEE 802.16e Networks , 2008, RFC.

[8]  Ieee Microwave Theory,et al.  IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks Part 16: Air Interface for Fixed Broadband Wireless Access Systems Draft Amendment: Management Information Base Extensions , 2007 .

[9]  N. Golmie,et al.  Adaptive Channel Scanning for IEEE 802.16e , 2006, MILCOM 2006 - 2006 IEEE Military Communications conference.

[10]  R. Filjar,et al.  Architecture of the automatic position reporting system (APRS) , 2004, Proceedings. Elmar-2004. 46th International Symposium on Electronics in Marine.