Impact of Handover Between UMTS and GPRS on TCP/IP: An Empirical Approach

Author

Gomez, C. ; Catalan, M. ; Figueras, X. ; Paradells, J. ; Calveras, A.

Author_Institution

Wireless Networks Group, Tech. Univ. of Catalonia (UPC), Barcelona

fYear

2006

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

5

Abstract

Availability of GPRS and UMTS networks constitutes a significant piece in the path towards a ubiquitous Internet. To ensure continuity of service, handover from UMTS to GPRS (U2G) and vice versa (G2U) is a key feature for mobile operators and user experience. This paper presents an empirical study on the impact of intersystem handover (ISHO) over the TCP/IP protocol suite. Trials include a variety of different conditions, such as two mobile operators´ GPRS and UMTS public networks, uplink and downlink data transmissions, as well as indoor and outdoor scenarios. Measurements have been performed at both IP and TCP layers. Results show that significant connectivity gaps, dramatically increased delays and varying amounts of losses take place as a result of ISHO. We describe the harmful effects of such phenomena on TCP.

Keywords

3G mobile communication; IP networks; packet radio networks; transport protocols; GPRS networks; TCP/IP protocol; UMTS networks; downlink data transmissions; indoor scenarios; intersystem handover; outdoor scenarios; ubiquitous Internet; uplink data transmissions; 3G mobile communication; Analytical models; Data communication; Delay; Electronic mail; Ground penetrating radar; IP networks; Mobile communication; Protocols; TCPIP;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Vehicular Technology Conference, 2006. VTC-2006 Fall. 2006 IEEE 64th

Conference_Location

Montreal, Que.

Print_ISBN

1-4244-0062-7

Electronic_ISBN

1-4244-0063-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/VTCF.2006.561

Filename

4109826