Pros and cons of route optimization schemes for network mobility (NEMO) and their effects on handovers

No one can deny the importance of mobility in modern communication networks and Internet is no exception. IETF has introduced the Network Mobility (NEMO) protocol to support a moving network. NEMO solves many problems of Mobile IP (MIP) to support a moving group of users, but introduces some problems of its own like suboptimal routing and multiple levels of encapsulation. These problems occur because the NEMO basic support protocol (NEMO BSP) does not support route optimization and because of nested mobile networks. Many solutions have been proposed in the literature to solve these problems. In this article we present a comprehensive survey of those solutions and will discuss their advantages and disadvantages. We also outline the effect of these solutions on handovers and a summary is provided in the form of a table at the end.