On Achieving Seamless IP Communications in Heterogeneous Vehicular Networks

The supporting infrastructure and communications technologies for vehicular networking contexts are heterogeneous by nature. Large coverage access networks, such as 3G/4G, coexist with wireless local area networks and dedicated short-range communications. In such a scenario, we investigate the seamless provision of mobile Internet access and general IP services over the heterogeneous network, in particular for loosely coupling architectures. We propose a hybrid global mobility scheme that allows for the ongoing IP sessions to be transferred across dissimilar radio access networks that may belong to different administrative domains. In order to achieve the global mobility, our scheme combines host- and network-based mobility. The solution focuses on urban vehicular scenarios and enables seamless communications for in-vehicle networks, passengers with mobile devices, and users of public transportation commuting along the system. By means of analytical evaluations and simulations of realistic urban vehicular scenarios, we show that our hybrid scheme can achieve seamless IP communications for mobile Internet access over the heterogeneous vehicular network.