Impact of L2 Triggering Time on Handover Performance for 4G Wireless Networks

4G wireless networks are based on All-IP architecture integrating cellular networks, Wireless local area networks, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, Wireless ad hoc networks, and Wireless Personal Area Networks etc. This makes seamless handover an important issue for users roaming among these networks. Anticipation of future events based on layer 2 (L2) trigger information is the basic principle of fast handover. It incurs higher signaling costs compared with the other protocols like Mobile IPv6 and Hierarchical Mobile IPv6. L2 trigger is based on fluctuating wireless channel states. Therefore, the handover anticipation using L2 trigger may sometimes be incorrect. Unnecessary buffer space is used for providing a smooth handover in the case of incorrect anticipation. Therefore, it is very important to analyze overhead costs and compare the performance of IP based handover protocols. This paper investigates the impact of L2 triggering time on the signaling cost, packet delivery cost, total overhead cost, and buffer space. Results show that Session to mobility ratio, L2 trigger time and number of subnets are determining parameters for optimizing handover performance.