Decision engine based access router discovery scheme in IEEE 802.11

Abstract

In this paper, we focus on AR selection problem of mobile host (MH). A mobile host (MH) may have several available networks when entering a new area. The user of MH decides to use one of access router (AR) at AR list. However, the decision only with the subsystem identification (SSID) and signal strength could not provide appropriate connection to the MH. To provide appropriate connection, more information of AR is needed. In this paper, we extend prefix information option on router advertisement message to obtain AR's status information. Then, we proposed decision engine (DE) on the MH that analyzes ARs and decides the appropriate AR automatically by AR's status information. In experimental analysis, proposed AR discovery process has several advantages. For the MH, wireless connection period is increased, the power consumption is decreased, and the signaling overhead is reduced. For AR and router, the load balancing is provided and the network topology can also be more efficient. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014.