Dynamic transport layer handover for heterogeneous communication environments

Vertical handovers between heterogeneous communication networks are required to provide seamless Internet access to mobile users. In this paper we present an approach for dynamic transport layer handover by utilizing the multihoming capabilities of SCTP. The architecture allows for selecting the most suitable communication path for an application depending on the user’s preferences, the application’s requirements as well as the current network characteristics. The evaluation results of the prototype implementation show that SCTP is very suitable for transport layer handovers and more robust against interferences than TCP.