Evaluation of a mobile IPv6-based architecture supporting user mobility QoS and AAAC in heterogeneous networks

This paper presents a Mobile IPv6-based overlay network architecture for heterogeneous environments, designed entirely based on IPv6, that aims to be implemented seamlessly irrespectively of the supporting network infrastructure. All transmission technologies are handled at the physical and data-link layers, imposing IPv6-based protocols for all higher layer communications and signaling. The architecture builds on Mobile IPv6 including improved fast handover, and integrates quality-of-service and authentication, authorization, accounting, and charging control per user. The most critical issues of the proposed architecture, mainly related to the handover process, were subject of a performance evaluation via ns-2 simulations. Finally, a field trial of the system was implemented, overlaying part of the GEANT infrastructure between Madrid and Stuttgart, which results are presented here.