User agent migration policies in multimedia wireless networks

Multimedia wireless networks often employ network based user agents as proxies for mobile users. We consider a fundamental question in the design of these networks: should the user agents migrate and if so, what are good user agent migration policies? We first introduce a general framework for analysing user agent migration policies. We then highlight, through analysis and simulation, the numerous parameters and tradeoffs that dictate the design of migration policies. Finally, we identify two simple threshold-based policies that deliver very good performance over a wide range of system parameters and configurations