A new method to support UMTS/WLAN vertical handover using SCTP

This paper proposes a new method to facilitate seamless vertical handover (VHO) between UMTS and WLAN networks using the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP). The multi-homing capability and dynamic address reconfiguration (DAR) extension of SCTP are applied in a UMTS/WLAN overlay architecture to decrease VHO delay and improve throughput performance. Unlike techniques based on Mobile IP (MIP) or Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), the SCTPbased VHO scheme does not require the addition of components such as home/foreign agents or SIP server to the existing networks. Therefore the proposed scheme provides a networkindependent solution that is preferred by service providers. Performance evaluations are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.