Virtual Private Network over Wireless Mesh Networks

Virtual Private Network (VPN) can enhance the security of Wireless Mesh Network (WMN). However, integrating these two technologies has several issues such as managing the nodes´ mobility. In the literature, many solutions of VPN handoff are suggested for wireless networks. Nevertheless, these schemes are not suitable with WMN networks, because of their dynamic topology and multi-hop routing. To address these issues, a new approach is proposed in this work, called Seamless Handoff VPN for wireless Mesh networks (SHVM). This scheme is based on three conceptions, namely, optimal path, Customer Edge (CE) based on Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) and VPN static address. The main objective of SHVM is to reduce the handoff delay and packet loss rate. To validate our study, the proposed model is simulated on OPNET 16. Simulation results show that delay and packet loss are in fact reduced. Hence, SHVM has improved the network QoS performance in term of packet end to end delay and jitter.