A Survey of Protocols to Support IP Mobility in Aeronautical Communications

The aviation industry is currently at the beginning of a modernization phase regarding its communication systems. This involves a transition to IP-based networks for Air Traffic Control and Airline Operational Communications. Due to the heterogeneous nature of the communication environment, support for mobility between different access technologies and access networks becomes necessary. We first introduce the aeronautical communications environment and present domain specific requirements. The main part of this article is a survey of different protocols that can be used to solve the IP mobility problem within the aeronautical environment. These protocols are assessed with regard to the introduced requirements. We conclude with the identification of a particular protocol as the most suited solution and also identify areas for further work.