Router selection for moving networks

Personal area networks (PANs) are networks in which portable devices carried by a user are connected to each other by wireless interfaces. Mobile personal area networks (MPANs) allow a PAN to be mobile, enabling seamless Internet access even when the user is moving. A PAN router has a wireless access interface and connects the devices in the MPAN to the Internet. There might be two or more MPAN routers in an MPAN and it is necessary for the MPAN router most suitable for the location and/or situation to be in operation. For example, if the MPAN router currently operating as the default router fails, another available MPAN router should start to operate as the default, or an MPAN router might be selected from those available according to QoS. We propose methods for the switching and selection of MPAN routers. We show by experiment that they enable fast switching and selection of the MPAN router most suitable for various QoS.