Extended Handover Keying and Modified IEEE 802.21 Resource Query Approach for Improving Vertical Handoff Performance

Inter-technology handoff is a complex process that involves several procedures including resource management, mobility management, and security functions. These procedures increase the handoff delay as the involved signaling occurs between different administrative domains. Hence, seamless handoff across different access technologies is conditioned on developing efficient architectures and mechanisms that reduce this delay. In this paper, we propose a broker-based architecture for integrated heterogeneous networks. The proposed architecture employs novel resource query mechanism for IEEE 802.21. Additionally, we propose an extended handover keying to reduce the user authentication delay. Furthermore, other techniques such as proactive configuration, data buffering and controlled forwarding are used to reduce the handoff delay and ensure seamless transitions. The overall architecture and proposed mechanisms show a significant reduction in both the average handoff delay and the the probability of handoff interruption.