One of the most engaging challenges for mobile operators today is how to manage the exponential data traffic increase. Mobile data offloading stands out as promising and low-cost solution to reduce the burden on the cellular network. To make this possible, a new hybrid network paradigm that leverages the existence of multiple alternative communication channels is needed. This entails significant modifications in the way data is handled, affecting also the behavior of network protocols.

Multiple solutions are proposed, one of them is IP Flow Mobility (IFOM) which uses small cell technologies to provide data services to cellular users in a more efficient and economically viable manner. IFOM is proposed as an effective means to enhance the system capacity by offloading traffic from the cellular network to Wi-Fi or other complementary networks.

This paper focuses on the analysis and mathematical study of IP Flow Mobility offloading strategy. Many parameters were taken in account to fully model processes related to the management of a complete end to end communication chain. The main emphasis was put on parameters that are vital to management of traffic flows providing highest possible quality of service while keeping the load of the cellular network at reasonable level.

A set of simulation scripts for modeling the flow management was implemented in MATLAB programming environment. The scripts were used to extensively test the behavior of the IP Flow Mobility strategy for scenarios covering different network configurations and traffic flow categories. We believe that this research paper will shed light on the application of IFOM technology in mobile traffic offload.

flow mobility, offload, Wi-Fi, LTE, service class.

Recieved: November 21, 2020; Accepted: January 28, 2021; Published: February 15, 2021

How to cite this article: Mahmoud Doughan, IP Flow Mobility and Seamless Traffic Offload, Far East Journal of Electronics and Communications 24(1) (2021), 1-19. DOI: 10.17654/EC024010001

This Open Access Article is Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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