With the emerging wireless technologies, mobility has more generic meaning than just node movement as in the traditional sense. It also means that when the operational environment changes (such as frequency and power), a node or the network adapts to the environmental changes, which requires the cognitive capability. On one hand, it is of critical importance that seamless, low latency, and transparent services are provided to the users, via potentially multiple heterogeneous wireless technologies during the course of node movement or environmental changes. This is particularly challenging if infrastructure networks are absent. Environment cognizance, mobility management, and vertical handoff become critical components in the solution space of seamless mobility support. On the other hand, host and network mobility also affects the performance of network protocols significantly, which in turn makes mobility adaptability an important design issue. This asks the design of wireless architectures, protocols, spectrum management, and mobility management mechanisms to be revisited. Traditional infrastructure-based approach is not sufficient to tackle all the challenges manifested today.

Cite: Subir Das, Jing Deng, Mario Gerla, Nada Gomie, Jason H. Li, and Jiang (Linda) Xie, "Special Issue on Seamless Mobility in Wireless Networks," Journal of Communications, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 1-3, 2011. Doi: 10.4304/jcm.6.1.1-3