Fast handoff for mobile wireless process control

Handoff is defined as the phase during which a mobile node has a temporary connection loss during the transfer from one wireless communication cell to another one. As in industrial applications wireless networks are often used to connect mobile devices such as, robot, trolleys, conveyors, to a control station, handoff introduces a temporary interruption of monitoring and control of the mobile device that can be disruptive. This paper proposes the Mobile Association Handoff Protocol (MAHP), which, if compared with the standard protocol, provides a notable reduction of the handoff latency.