Performance modeling of an inter-cluster handoff path extension scheme in wireless ATM networks

We investigate the issues of extending ATM capabilities in mobile wireless networks, focusing on the support of a fast and seamless handoff. The design objective is to prevent any service disruption during and after handoff. In current wireless networks, as the population of mobiles increases, the cell radii are further reduced so the handoff occurs more frequently and handoff processing load may cause a bottleneck. The inter-cluster handoff scheme is more involved as the new connection needs to be rerouted. We propose a fast handoff management scheme based on the reservation of permanent virtual channels (PVCs) between any two adjacent mobility enhanced switches (MESs) in order to facilitate a seamless handoff that can support a high speed handoff connection processing load. Both analytical and simulation models are presented to calculate the PVC bandwidth for a given handoff blocking probability. Discussions and conclusions are drawn on the results obtained.