Services in interworking 3G and WLAN environments

Interworking WLANs and 3G mobile networks are expected to provide ubiquitous wireless communications at high data rates and a large variety of services with variable bandwidth and QoS requirements, across a wide range of propagation environments and mobility conditions, using dual mode terminals. The interworking of the two networks is a major step toward a new generation of wireless networks in which other radio technologies are also be integrated. In this article we present possible architectures that enable the interworking of 3G and WLAN networks. We then address the capabilities of various terminal types and describe future services in the interworking environment. Finally, we present market forecasts on terminal and service demand growth.     

Load balancing for cellular/WLAN integrated networks

The interworking between heterogeneous third-generation cellular networks and wireless local area networks is one promising evolution approach to fourth-generation wireless networks, which can exploit the complementary advantages of the cellular network and WLANs. Resource management for the 4G-oriented cellular/WLAN integrated network is an important open issue that deserves more research efforts. In this article we present a policy framework for resource management in a loosely coupled cellular/WLAN integrated network, where load balancing policies are designed to efficiently utilize the pooled resources of the network. A two-phase control strategy is adopted in the load balancing policies, in which call assignment is used to provide a statistical quality of service guarantee during the admission phase, and dynamic vertical handoff during the traffic service phase is used to minimize the performance variations. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate that the proposed load balancing solution achieves significant performance improvement over two other reference schemes     

Policy-based Network Management Reference Architecture for an Integrated Environment WLAN-3G

Strong demands for public wireless broadband services will require more capacity than even that can be supplied by advanced mobile cellular systems. For this reason, there is currently a strong need for interworking mechanisms between WLANs and cellular data networks. But one of the problems which the operators of this new architecture face is its process of management. Policy-Based Networking (PBN) is a novel technology that facilitates the management and operation of networks. In this article policy-based network management reference architecture for integrated environment WLAN-3G is proposed.     

Interworking techniques and architectures for WLAN/3G integration toward 4G mobile data networks

The intense wireless LAN standardization and R&D activities worldwide, combines with the recent successful deployment of WLANs, provide prime evidence that WLAN technology will play a key role in the fourth generation of mobile data networks. In this context, there is a strong need to integrate WLANs with 3G mobile data networks and develop hybrid mobile data networks capable of ubiquitous data services and very high data rates in strategic locations. This article addresses this need by proposing and discussing some novel architectures able to provide internetworking between WLAN and 3G networks, and meet the requirements of the most common internetworking scenarios. These architectures can enable 3G subscribers to benefit from high-throughput IP connectivity in hotspots and also to attain service roaming across several radio access technologies, such as IEEE 802.11, HiperLan/2, ULTRAN, and GERAN.     

Policy-based QoS-management architecture in an integrated UMTS and WLAN environment

Strong demands for public wireless broadband services will require more capacity than even that can be,supplied by advanced mobile cellular systems like the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System. The increasing popularity of WLANs has prompted mobile network operators to consider their deployment in high-density usage areas like indoor/outdoor public hotspots to provide complementary broadband access to their UMTS networks. In order to provide consistent QoS control over an integrated UMTS and WLAN system, a policy-based multidomain QoS management architecture is proposed in this article. Different UMTS-WLAN interworking scenarios are discussed to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed architecture.     

An enhanced TCP for upward vertical handoff in integrated WLAN and cellular networks

The integration of wireless local area networks (WLANs) and third generation (3G) cellular networks has been recently a subject of great interest, mainly aimed at augmenting cellular networks with high‐rate data services by WLANs in hotspots. The complementary characteristics of 3G cellular networks and 802.11 WLANs are expected to offer the best of both technologies. On the other hand, the drastically different characteristics of both networks could be a serious obstacle to providing seamless mobility in the integrated WLAN and cellular networks. In particular, mobile users suffer from a drastic decrease in data rate after a vertical handoff from a WLAN to a 3G cellular network. However, current TCP congestion control cannot adapt to the change in the data rate after the vertical handoff, resulting in significant throughput degradation. Thus, we propose a novel TCP scheme to enhance the throughput when a vertical handoff occurs from a WLAN to a cellular network. For the proposed scheme, the throughput performance is investigated via analytic modeling and simulation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improving Voice and Data Services in Cellular/WLAN Integrated Networks by Admission Control

In this paper, we study voice and data service provisioning in an integrated system of cellular and wireless local area networks (WLANs). With the ubiquitous coverage of the cellular network and the disjoint deployment of WLANs in hot-spot areas, the integrated system has a two-tier overlaying structure. As an essential resource allocation aspect, admission control can be used to properly admit voice and data calls to the overlaying cells and WLANs. A simple admission scheme is proposed in this study to analyze the dependence of resource utilization and the impact of user mobility and traffic characteristics on admission parameters. Both admission control and rate control are considered to limit the input traffic to the WLAN, so that the WLAN operates in its most efficient states and effectively complements the cellular network. The call blocking/dropping probabilities and data call throughput are evaluated for effective and accurate derivation of the admission parameters. It is observed that the utilization varies with the configuration of admission parameters, which properly distributes the voice and data traffic load to the cells and WLANs. Mobility and traffic variability have a significant impact on the selection of the admission parameters.     

Resource management for QoS support in cellular/WLAN interworking

To provide mobile users with seamless Internet access anywhere and anytime/ there is a strong demand for interworking mechanisms between cellular networks and wireless local area networks in the next-generation all-IP wireless networks. In this article we focus on resource management and call admission control for QoS support in cellular/WLAN interworking. In specific, a DiffServ interworking architecture with loose coupling is presented. Resource allocation in the interworking environment is investigated/ taking into account the network characteristics, vertical handoff, user mobility, and service types. An effective call admission control strategy with service differentiation is proposed for QoS provisioning and efficient resource utilization. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed call admission control scheme.     

Cost‐efficient vertical handover between cellular networks and WLAN based on HMIPv6 and IEEE 802.21 MIH

In order to increase the capacity of wireless communication networks with minor changes and low cost, internetworking between cellular networks and wireless local area networks (WLANs) is considered as an attractive solution. In the internetworking of cellular networks and WLANs, a cost‐efficient vertical handover mechanism is required for seamless service provision. In this paper, we propose a cost‐efficient vertical handover mechanism for the packet‐based cellular networks and WLAN internetworking, where HMIPv6 and IEEE 802.21 are complementarily integrated to optimize the handover procedures. To design the mechanism, we introduce pre‐binding update and hierarchical packet forwarding concepts which can reduce handover signaling cost and delay. A mathematical model for handover rates and costs is proposed in order to analyze the proposed mechanism. In performance evaluation, we investigate how various factors affect handover rates and costs, and compare the proposed mechanism against the conventional mechanism. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self‐adaptive routing protocols for integrating cellular networks,WLANs, and MANETs

A growing need to have ubiquitous connectivity has motivated our research to provide continuous connection between various wireless platforms such as cellular networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs), and mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). In this paper, we consider integration at the routing layer and propose two adaptable routing protocols (IRP‐RD and IRP‐PD) that exploit topology information stored at the fixed network components (cellular base stations and WLAN access points) for the route discovery and maintenance processes. Our proposed protocols can provide connectivity to the cellular network and/or WLAN hotspots through multihop routing, while differ in the gateway discovery approach used. In IRP‐RD, multihop routes to gateways to the cellular network or WLAN hot spots are discovered on demand, while in IRP‐PD out of coverage users proactively maintain routes to the gateways. Furthermore, proposed protocols can be used in any heterogeneous scenario, combining a cellular network and WLANs operating in infrastructure or ad hoc (MANET) mode. We provide simulation results that demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed integrated routing protocols and show the advantages and drawbacks of each gateway discovery approach in different heterogeneous scenarios. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Design and implementation of a WLAN/cdma2000 interworking architecture

The combination of 3G and WLAN wireless technologies offers the possibility of achieving anywhere, anytime Internet access, bringing benefits to both end users and service providers. We discuss interworking architectures for providing integrated service capability across widely deployed 3G cdma2000-based and IEEE 802.11-based networks. Specifically, we present two design choices for integration: tightly coupled and loosely coupled, and recommend the latter as a preferred option. We describe in detail the implementation of a loosely coupled integrated network which provides two kinds of roaming services, a SimpleIP service and a Mobile-IP service. We present, in detail, two new components used to build these services: a network element called a WLAN integration gateway deployed in WLAN networks; a client software on the mobile device. For a mobile device with interfaces to both technologies, our system supports seamless handoff in the presence of overlapping radio coverage.     

WLAN-GPRS Tight Coupling Based Interworking Architecture with Vertical Handoff Support

There have been parallel technological developments in wireless local network (WLAN) and cellular wide area network (WAN) technologies. This is evidenced by the boom in fast WLANs enabled devices, the spread of 2.5 G networks and the increasing emergence 3 G communication networks, applications and terminals. The prospects of integrating WLAN and cellular WAN technologies with support for seamless handoffs between the two heterogeneous have changed the mentality of researchers from considering WLAN technology as a threat to the future of wide area cellular networks to accepting the technology as a complementary solution. A number of architectures for interworking the two different network types have been proposed mainly based on the loose coupling interworking approach recommended by the ETSI. One of the main weaknesses anticipated with loose coupling architecture is excessive handoff latency, which may lead to data loss, traffic congestion and handoff failure. In this paper an architecture for interworking WLAN and the GPRS networks, based on the ETSI tight coupling approach, is proposed. Fredson Alfred Phiri holds a Master of Engineering Science (MEngSc) degree obtained from Multimedia University, Malaysia in 2005 and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Malawi where he graduated in 2001. Mr. Phiri is currently working as a lecturer at the Polytechnic of Namibia (Namibia’s University of Science and Technology) where he also chairs the Electronics and Telecommunications (E-TEL) Research Group. He has previously worked as a lecturer at the University of Malawi, as a Telecommunications Engineer at Technocentre (Malawi), and as a Telecommunication Technician at the Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL). Mr. Phiri’s research interests include Integration of Mobile Data Networks, Network Programming and Powerline Communication. M.B.R. Murthy has obtained his B.E. (Electrical) from Andhra University, College of Engineering, Waltair, India, M.Sc (Engg) in Communication Systems from Regional Engineering College-Rourkela, India and PhD from Karnatak University, Dharwad, India. He has over 32 years of academic experience teaching under graduates and graduate students. He has vast research experience and has 43 publications in reputed journals and international conferences. He is a senior member at IEEE. He had six years of teaching and research experience at Multi Media University Malaysia. Currently he is Professor ECE and Dean PG engineering and R&D in GEC Gudlavalleru, India.     

Wireless Network Security and Interworking

A variety of wireless technologies have been standardized and commercialized, but no single technology is considered the best because of different coverage and bandwidth limitations. Thus, interworking between heterogeneous wireless networks is extremely important for ubiquitous and high-performance wireless communications. Security in interworking is a major challenge due to the vastly different security architectures used within each network. The goal of this paper is twofold. First, we provide a comprehensive discussion of security problems and current technologies in 3G and WLAN systems. Second, we provide introductory discussions about the security problems in interworking, the state-of-the-art solutions, and open problems.     

Hotspot wireless LANs to enhance the performance of 3G and beyond cellular networks

At present, WLANs supporting broadband multimedia communications are being developed and deployed around the world. Standards include HIPERLAN/2 defined by ETSI BRAN and the 802.11 family defined by the IEEE. These systems provide channel adaptive data rates up to 54 Mb/s (in a 20 MHz channel spacing) over short ranges up to 200 m. The HIPERLAN/2 standard also specifies a flexible radio access network that can be used with a variety of core networks, including UMTS. It is likely that WLANs will become an important complementary technology to 3G cellular systems and will typically be used to provide hotspot coverage. In this article the complementary use of WLANs in conjunction with UMTS is presented. In order to quantify the capacity enhancement and benefits of cellular/hotspot interworking we have combined novel ray tracing, software-simulated physical layer performance results, and optimal base station deployment analysis. The study focuses on an example deployment using key lamppost mounted WLAN access points to increase the performance (in terms of capacity) of a cellular network.     

Security architectures for B3G mobile networks

This paper analyzes the security architectures employed in the interworking model that integrates third-generation (3G) mobile networks and Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), materializing Beyond 3G (B3G) networks. Currently, B3G networks are deployed using two different access scenarios (i.e., WLAN Direct Access and WLAN 3GPP IP Access), each of which incorporates a specific security architecture that aims at protecting the involved parties and the data exchanged among them. These architectures consist of various security protocols that provide mutual authentication (i.e., user and network authentication), as well as confidentiality and integrity services to the data sent over the air interface of the deployed WLANs and specific parts of the core network. The strengths and weaknesses of the applied security measures are elaborated on the basis of the security services that they provide. In addition, some operational and performance issues that derives from the application of these measures in B3G networks are outlined. Finally, based on the analysis of the two access scenarios and the security architecture that each one employs, this paper presents a comparison of them, which aims at highlighting the deployment advantages of each scenario and classifying them in terms of: a) security, b) mobility, and c) reliability.     

Architecture,mobility management,and quality of service for integrated 3G and WLAN networks

Integration of 3G and wireless LAN (WLAN) becomes a trend in current and future wireless networks, and brings many benefits to both end users and service providers. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on integration of 3G and WLAN. We discuss issues such as underline network architectures, integrated architectures, mobility management, and quality of service (QoS). We particularly study handoff QoS mapping and guarantee between 3G and WLAN, as well as how seamless voice/multimedia/data handoff becomes possible. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A hierarchical radio resource management framework for integrating WLANs in cellular networking environments

Over the last few years wireless local area networking (WLAN) has become a very important technology that offers high-speed communication services to mobile users in indoor environments. WLAN technology offers some very attractive characteristics such as high data rates, increased QoS capabilities, and low installation costs which has made many professionals claim that it will be the main opponent of IMT-2000, despite the enormous effort needed for the specification and implementation of 3G systems. However, WLANs also present many important constraints related mainly to their restricted coverage capabilities. On the other hand, 3G systems are deployed gradually and carefully since their business prospects have not been validated yet and it is expected that 2G and 2G+ cellular systems will continue to play an important role for at least five more years. Thus, today's wireless networking environment is in fact a conglomeration of all these technologies for which there is a strong need for cooperation. In this article we describe a heterogeneous wireless networking environment together with its features and user requirements. We explain the importance of the existence of WLANs and describe a framework and system architecture that supports seamless integration of WLAN in heterogeneous cellular networking environments, focusing on support for efficient resource provision and management.     

Analysis of the integration of IEEE 802.11e capabilities in battery limited mobile devices

IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs (WLANs) is widely recognized as a complementary technology to cellular access networks in hot-spot areas due to its lower cost and higher data rates. Different interworking approaches are being studied, but one common element is considered by all of them: mobile devices can include capabilities for connecting through both access technologies, allowing the best option to be chosen depending on the availability at a specific moment. However, several challenges need to be addressed in order to achieve seamless integration of WLAN and cellular systems in such a mobile device. The IEEE 802.11e standard, which defines mechanisms to provide QoS in a WLAN, represents a basic step toward this integration, since it provides the means to support key applications such as voice over IP. The IEEE 802.11 power-save mode (PSM) is another necessary element for devices with severe battery limitations (e.g., cellular phones) in order to ensure reasonable battery duration. The resulting performance when both QoS and power-saving mechanisms are used together, however, is uncertain and requires further study. We analyze the implications of the interaction of the 802.11 PSM with 802.11e QoS mechanisms by determining if the desired QoS is still provided, detecting functionality conflicts, and quantifying the impact of the PSM upon the 802.11e QoS efficiency and system performance. The evaluation is performed via simulation.     

Mobile ad hoc relaying for upward vertical handoff in hybrid WLAN/cellular systems

One of the main issues in hybrid wireless networks is vertical handoff. Dropping probability is one of the important parameters that must be considered in planning the wireless communication systems. However, there has not been much effort in dropping rate reduction in loosely coupled hybrid wireless networks. In loosely coupled WLAN/cellular systems the system administrator of the WLAN is different from the cellular one. Therefore, in these situations, reducing the dropping probability based on classical methods such as using reserved guard channels is difficult. A handoff from a WLAN to a cellular system occurs when a multi-mode device moves out of the WLANs coverage area. This is an upward vertical handoff in a hybrid network. In this paper, we propose to employ ad hoc relaying during the upward vertical handoff in a hybrid WLAN/cellular system. Two-hop and multi-hop relaying approaches, which we propose in this paper, improve the dropping probability regardless of the number of reserved channels. Simulation results support the effectiveness of the proposed methods. Also, practical routing protocols are proposed in order to implement the suggested relaying methods.     

Running cellular/PWLAN services: practical considerations for cellular/PWLAN architecture supporting interoperator roaming

To offer wireless data access services that are more efficient than GPRS or UMTS networks, public WLANs are in a predominant position to embrace the wireless broadband era. Reusing the existing mechanisms for user authentication, access control, billing, and roaming handling procedures in mobile territory to construct a complementary network, public WLAN (PWLAN) has drawn the attention of cellular operators such as Vodafone and T-Mobile. In this article we aim to investigate a practical end-to-end PWLAN architecture capable of using GPRS/UMTS SIM-based authentication for current mobile users and carrying out Web-based authentication for occasional users without SIM modules simultaneously. Additionally, we consider a confederation of various PWLAN service providers by a RADIUS-based roaming mechanism to leverage the existing resources of cellular operators. The proposed considerations and guidelines provide a baseline skeleton to build an extendable environment and successfully construct a flexible cellular/PWLAN hotspot in mobeeLAN service.