Mobile-IP MPLS-based networks

The Internet backbone has been enjoying the great many advantages of Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) for quite sometimes, as well as in wireless applications. The employment of MPLS in mobile services and applications was not noticeable until the beginning of the year 2000. However researches began extensive efforts to extend the MPLS capability to the wireless access networks. This is particularly important when Quality of Service (QoS) became a major issue. In this paper we provide an overview of the MPLS-based mobile-IP management including label switched path set up, packet forwarding, and handoff/handover processing. This investigation further reveals the improvement of handoff/handover procedures and depending on the structure and capacities of these schemes, traffic with variety of bandwidth requirements could be routed with minimal interruption/packet-loss. The research also includes the integrity of peer-to-peer communications covering multi-layer communication requirements. Future work involves in investigation of buffer-system failure and its effect on the traffic-loss. This includes thorough investigation using mathematical tools and practical investigation using proper simulation and testbed environments. © 2005 IEEE.