Patent ID: 8396036

Claim:
A handover processing method in which, in a communication system in which a plurality of access routers each configuring a subnet are connected via a communication network, at least one or more access points providing unique communication areas are connected to each of the plurality of access routers, and respective subnets of the plurality of access routers are configured to overlap with one another, a mobile node, configured to communicate with a correspondent node through wireless access with an access point within a communication area, switches connection from the access point with which communication is currently being performed to another access point as a result of movement, the handover processing method comprising steps of: providing, by the access point, strength information held by the access point itself, the strength information being information promoting handover processing in a layer 3 or information not promoting the handover processing in the layer 3 , and being set to a predetermined uniform value within the communication area; and receiving, by the mobile node, the provided strength information, deciding whether to perform a handover in the layer 3 based on the received strength information, and performing the handover processing in the layer 3 based on the decision.