Explicit MIPv6 handover cross-layer triggers and its impact on TCP Application recovery time

MIPv6 is the current IETF standard to manage IPv6 node mobility. While moving, TCP application may stop transferring data due to Internet disconnection. Due to TCP retransmission mechanisms, TCP applications are recovered as soon as problem is vanished. Nevertheless, TCP does not distinguish between losses due to network congestion and losses during end host mobility. Both kinds of losses are treated by the same mechanisms. Hence, the time that takes an application to be recovered is relatively long comparing to the time taken to be attached to a new access router. Therefore, in this paper we propose a novel mechanism that reduces the time of the TCP application recovery by enabling the cooperation between TCP and MIPv6. The proposed enhancement is implemented in OMNeT ++ network simulator. The Application Recovery Time is significantly reduced in dense and sparse networks.