A Modular Approach to Mobile QoS Signaling— Motivation,Design & Implementation

In order to support mobile multimedia applications in next generation wireless IP-based networks, it is necessary to deliver seamless voice, video and data at high quality. Therefore, session mobility and Quality of Service (QoS) for mobile end systems are required. Within this article, the authors point out a new way to approach the problem. Instead of tightly coupling a modified QoS signaling mechanism with a certain mobility mechanism, a more generic and long-term solution is proposed and exemplified on the basis of existing IETF protocols. The connection-less IP network layer is enhanced by a lightweight and truly optional connection-oriented mobile network service, which offers the possibility to establish soft state unicast connections at the network layer. Hence, a connection-oriented network service is available within a radio access network (RAN) architecture to all end systems—mobile or fixed—independent of the application. Thereby, it is possible to integrate QoS and connectivity signaling for mobile end systems, as well as other connection-oriented services like explicit routing or load balancing.