Mobility management for IP-based next generation mobile networks: Review, challenge and perspective

IP Mobility management protocols are divided into two kinds of category: host-based and network-based mobility protocol. The former category, such as MIPv6 protocol and its enhancements (e.g., HMIPv6 and FMIPv6), supports the mobility of a Mobile Node (MN) to roam across network domains. This is done through the involvement of MN in the mobility-related signalling, which requires protocol stack modification and IP address changes on the MN. The latter category, such as PMIPv6 protocol, handles mobility management on behalf of the MN thereby enabling it to connect and roam within localized domains, which requires neither protocol stack modification nor IP address change of the MN. PMIPv6 attracts attention in the Internet and telecommunication societies by improving the performance of the MN's communication to fulfil the requirements of QoS for real-time services. In this article, we present IPv6 features to support mobile systems and survey the mobility management services along with their techniques, strategies and protocol categories, and elaborate upon the classification and comparison among various mobility management protocols. Furthermore, it identifies and discusses several issues and challenges facing mobility management along with an evaluation and comparison of several relevant mobility studies.