Combined Operations of Mobility and NAT Management on the Horizontal Model of Software-Defined Networking

MIPv4 and MIPv6 protocols, which are based on the vertical mobility management model, are network layer functions providing pre-call and mid-call mobility management for mobile nodes. The presence of non-standardized Network Address Translation (NAT) devices and widespread use of private addresses cause NAT traversal issues when a mobile node, which operates with a vertical model of network functions, changes its private IP address during a session. The Software-Defined Networking (SDN) raises the horizontal model, where the network functions are integrated and controlled over control plane. In this dissertation, we propose an Overlay Network Controller-centric (ONC) horizontal model mobility management, which operates for mobile nodes behind NAT devices. The proposed ONC-centric horizontal model mobility management is an early adaptation of the horizontal model of network functions on the control layer, which has the combined functions of NAT management and mobility management. Also, the proposed ONC-centric horizontal model mobility management guarantees an easier way to handle the NAT management and mobility management together. Finally, this paper compares the proposed ONC-centric horizontal mobility management with the existing mobility management solutions with respect to advantages and layer 3 handover latency.