Investigation of handoffs for IEEE 802.11 networks in vehicular environment

Users in vehicles who are interested in accessing Internet services can be achieved by connecting to IEEE 802.11 WLAN APs along the roadside. However, due to the small coverage range of 802.11 APs and high mobility of vehicles, handoffs frequently occur as vehicles migrate across a series of adjacent access points which can be a major source of interruption to seamless connections and throughput reduction. In this paper, we investigate the well-known handoff schemes that have worked to reduce the 802.11 handoff latency and address the possible issues that arise when applied to vehicular scenarios. Our main objective is to provide groundwork for future research on the enhancement of fast handoffs for vehicular scenarios and emphasize that smart and optimized fast handoffs are a critical requirement for seamless connectivity. To meet these requirements, we also suggest that trajectory information (on-board navigation systems) along with neighbor AP information (802.11k) have the potential to provide smart and fast handoffs to support seamless communication in a vehicular scenario.