QoS provision in wireless access networks: a routing perspective considering mobility

Future wireless communications are expected to provide mobile users access to the desired service with the appropriate quality at any place. The essential elements for assembling such a vision are mobility, quality of service (QoS) provision and scalability, which are expected to be merged into the design process of wireless access networks. Internet mobility support is currently entering a mature phase in which scalable solutions provide low loss or even seamless handovers in cellular and heterogeneous mobile environments. Wireless and mobile QoS architectures extend the equivalent Internet approaches in order to accommodate the requirements associated with the presence of wireless links and mobility. Nevertheless, none of the popular mobility proposals combined with wireless and mobile QoS architectures encounter QoS in the routing function, leaving the QoS provision underutilized. QoS routing (QoSR) complements existing QoS architectures, enhancing application performance especially in the case of congestion, while providing efficient resource management. However, QoSR was originally designed for fixed IP networks without taking mobility into account. This paper investigates the interaction of QoSR in wireless access networks, identifying key points for the efficient cooperation with mobility and existing QoS architectures. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.