17.op/DF.RHK.seshan.etal2
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Connection-Oriented Networks for Mobile Computing

Srinivasan Seshan, Kimberly Keeton, and Bruce A. Mah

(Professors D. Ferrari and R. H. Katz)

AT&T Bell Labs, Digital Equipment, 
(DOE) DE-FD03-92ER-25135, Hewlett Packard, 
Hitachi, International Computer Science Institute,
MICRO, and Pacific Bell 

The new computing environment presented by wireless multimedia
personal communication systems presents many challenges, because of the
real-time requirements of multimedia applications and the mobile
nature of the hosts.

Multimedia applications require real-time
(performance-guaranteed) network services. Approaches to providing
these services frequently rely on connection-oriented networks in
order to support resource reservation. These methods, however, are
designed for wired networks and do not directly address the mobility
of hosts.

User mobility forces networks to cope with new dynamics of
routing and resource location. Much existing work related to network
support for host mobility is based on the Internet protocol suite,
which has a connectionless network layer (IP). They do not solve the
unique needs of connection-oriented networks.

We are investigating various algorithms for supporting host
mobility. Specifically, we address the problem of maintaining and
rerouting network connections to mobile hosts. We have developed
several algorithms to provide for the "handoff" of network connections
as hosts move between cells in a cellular-style wireless network [1,2].

[1]	K. Keeton, B. Mah, S. Seshan, R. Katz, and D. Ferrari,
"Providing Connection-Oriented Network Services to Mobile Hosts,"
Proc. 1993 USENIX Symp. Mobile and
Location-Independent Computing, Cambridge, MA, August 1993.

[2]	B. Mah, S. Seshan, K. Keeton, R. Katz, and D. Ferrari,
"Providing Network Video Service to Mobile Clients," Proc. 
4th Workshop on Workstation Operating Systems, Napa, CA, October
1993.