Distributed virtual network interfaces to support intra-PAN and PAN-to-infrastructure connectivity

In emerging personal area networks (PANs), consisting of heterogeneous devices and nodes, dynamic intra-PAN and PAN-to-infrastructure connectivity should be achieved transparently to end users and applications. This paper proposes a distributed virtual network interface (DVNI) solution for PAN device discovery, seamless handover and routing. DVNI is an extension of the VNI concept designed for seamless vertical handover in the case of a single device with multiple interfaces. The DVNI concept consists of making all PAN interfaces available via a common distributed virtual interface to mask changes in the PAN dynamics and connectivity