Header compression (HC) is a useful technique for reducing the load on
bandwidth-scarce wireless links. HC normally depends on the
establishment and synchronisation of context at the compressor and
de-compressor. In Mobile IP networks, it is desirable to transfer this
context between access routers to avoid the expensive process of
context reestablishment. In this paper we propose a method for
avoiding the need for context re-establishment when packets are lost
during handovers, as well as means for efficiently transferring the
context to new access routers (by piggybacking the context on Mobile
IP signalling messages). The analysis of our scheme shows that it can
reduce signalling load during handovers, which is beneficial in mobile
networks with frequent handovers (e.g. wireless LAN hot spots).