Systems and methods for handoff in wireless network

A method for handoff in a secured network, performed by a mobile node (MN), comprising:

• associating with a serving access point (AP) to transmit/receive a plurality of packets to/from a corresponding node (CN) using a first MAC (medium access control) address;
• and
• performing a handoff procedure to a target AP by employing a second MAC address;
• whereby once the handoff procedure is completed, the mobile node transmits/receives a plurality of packets to/from the CN via the target AP.

A system for handoff in a secured network, resident on a mobile node (MN), comprising:

• a communication unit;
• and
• a processor coupled to the communication unit for periodically directing the communication unit to switch channels between a first channel and one of a plurality of other channels during handoff, for utilizing the first channel to transmit/receive a plurality of packets to/from a corresponding node (CN) via a serving access point (AP) which the MN has associated with, and for utilizing one of the other channels to perform a handoff procedure to a target AP which is to be associated with the MN,
• wherein the first channel is switched to in a plurality of duty cycles of a plurality of packet intervals, the other channels are switched to in a plurality of sleep cycles of the packet intervals, and the duty cycles and the sleep cycles are interleaved.

A system for handoff in a secured network, resident on a mobile node (MN), comprising:

• a communication unit;
• and
• a processor coupled to the communication unit for associating with a serving access point (AP) to transmit/receive a plurality of packets to/from a corresponding node (CN) via the communication unit using a first MAC (medium access control) address and for performing a handoff procedure to a target AP by employing a second MAC address,
• whereby after the handoff procedure is completed, the mobile node transmits/receives a plurality of packets to/from the CN via the target AP.