Abstract
All IP networks become increasingly visible. The various communication networks are aimed to be connected with each other through a common IP core, so that the user will stay always online, anytime and anywhere. However, a lot of challenges remain unsolved until today. One of the major challenges is how to achieve a seamless and fast handoff while moving from one point off attachment to another. In this paper we propose a new fast and smooth handoff approach called Pre-MIFA (pre registration mobile JP fast authentication protocol). Pre-MIFA uses the layer 2 trigger to eliminate the latency resulting from the agent discovery procedure (pre-registration method), and the MIFA procedures to eliminate the latency resulting from the communication between the foreign agent and the home agent especially when the home gent is far a way from the foreign agent. Our approach minimizes the handoff latency without introducing intermediate node and without making any restriction on network topology. We also present a simple program analysis comparing the hand off latency of MIP, MIFA, Pre-Registration and our approach. Our results have shown that Pre-MIFA outperforms Pre-Registration method, MIP and MIFA with respect to handoff latency.