A Survey on Handover Management in Mobility Architectures

This work presents a comprehensive and structured taxonomy of available techniques for managing the handover process in mobility architectures. Representative works from the existing literature have been divided into appropriate categories, based on their ability to support horizontal handovers, vertical handovers and multihoming. We describe approaches designed to work on the current Internet (i.e. IPv4-based networks), as well as those that have been devised for the "future" Internet (e.g. IPv6-based networks and extensions). Quantitative measures and qualitative indicators are also presented and used to evaluate and compare the examined approaches. This critical review provides some valuable guidelines and suggestions for designing and developing mobility architectures, including some practical expedients (e.g. those required in the current Internet environment), aimed to cope with the presence of NAT/firewalls and to provide support to legacy systems and several communication protocols working at the application layer

Mobility management architecture in different RATs based network slicing

© 2018 IEEE. Network slicing is an architectural solution that enables the future 5G network to offer a high data traffic capacity and efficient network connectivity. Moreover, software defined network (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) empower this architecture to visualize the physical network resources. The network slicing identified as a multiple logical network, where each network slice dedicates as an end-to-end network and works independently with other slices on a common physical network resources. Most user devices have more than one smart wireless interfaces to connect to different radio access technologies (RATs) such as WiFi and LTE, thereby network operators utilize this facility to offload mobile data traffic. Therefore, it is important to enable a network slicing to manage different RATs on the same logical network as a way to mitigate the spectrum scarcity problem and enables a slice to control its users mobility across different access networks. In this paper, we propose a mobility management architecture based network slicing where each slice manages its users across heterogeneous radio access technologies such as WiFi, LTE and 5G networks. In this architecture, each slice has a different mobility demands and these demands are governed by a network slice configuration and service characteristics. Therefore, our mobility management architecture follows a modular approach where each slice has individual module to handle the mobility demands and enforce the slice policy for mobility management. The advantages of applying our proposed architecture include: i) Sharing network resources between different network slices; ii) creating logical platform to unify different RATs resources and allowing all slices to share them; iii) satisfying slice mobility demands

A Unified Mobility Management Architecture for Interworked Heterogeneous Mobile Networks

The buzzword of this decade has been convergence: the convergence of telecommunications, Internet, entertainment, and information technologies for the seamless provisioning of multimedia services across different network types. Thus the future Next Generation Mobile Network (NGMN) can be envisioned as a group of co-existing heterogeneous mobile data networking technologies sharing a common Internet Protocol (IP) based backbone. In such all-IP based heterogeneous networking environments, ongoing sessions from roaming users are subjected to frequent vertical handoffs across network boundaries. Therefore, ensuring uninterrupted service continuity during session handoffs requires successful mobility and session management mechanisms to be implemented in these participating access networks. Therefore, it is essential for a common interworking framework to be in place for ensuring seamless service continuity over dissimilar networks to enable a potential user to freely roam from one network to another. For the best of our knowledge, the need for a suitable unified mobility and session management framework for the NGMN has not been successfully addressed as yet. This can be seen as the primary motivation of this research. Therefore, the key objectives of this thesis can be stated as: To propose a mobility-aware novel architecture for interworking between heterogeneous mobile data networks To propose a framework for facilitating unified real-time session management (inclusive of session establishment and seamless session handoff) across these different networks. In order to achieve the above goals, an interworking architecture is designed by incorporating the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) as the coupling mediator between dissipate mobile data networking technologies. Subsequently, two different mobility management frameworks are proposed and implemented over the initial interworking architectural design. The first mobility management framework is fully handled by the IMS at the Application Layer. This framework is primarily dependant on the IMS’s default session management protocol, which is the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). The second framework is a combined method based on SIP and the Mobile IP (MIP) protocols, which is essentially operated at the Network Layer. An analytical model is derived for evaluating the proposed scheme for analyzing the network Quality of Service (QoS) metrics and measures involved in session mobility management for the proposed mobility management frameworks. More precisely, these analyzed QoS metrics include vertical handoff delay, transient packet loss, jitter, and signaling overhead/cost. The results of the QoS analysis indicates that a MIP-SIP based mobility management framework performs better than its predecessor, the Pure-SIP based mobility management method. Also, the analysis results indicate that the QoS performances for the investigated parameters are within acceptable levels for real-time VoIP conversations. An OPNET based simulation platform is also used for modeling the proposed mobility management frameworks. All simulated scenarios prove to be capable of performing successful VoIP session handoffs between dissimilar networks whilst maintaining acceptable QoS levels. Lastly, based on the findings, the contributions made by this thesis can be summarized as: The development of a novel framework for interworked heterogeneous mobile data networks in a NGMN environment. The final design conveniently enables 3G cellular technologies (such as the Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS) or Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000) type systems), Wireless Local Area Networking (WLAN) technologies, and Wireless Metropolitan Area Networking (WMAN) technologies (e.g., Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) systems such as WiMAX) to interwork under a common signaling platform. The introduction of a novel unified/centralized mobility and session management platform by exploiting the IMS as a universal coupling mediator for real-time session negotiation and management. This enables a roaming user to seamlessly handoff sessions between different heterogeneous networks. As secondary outcomes of this thesis, an analytical framework and an OPNET simulation framework are developed for analyzing vertical handoff performance. This OPNET simulation platform is suitable for commercial use

Mobility Management Architecture in Different RATs Based Network Slicing

Network slicing is an architectural solution that enables the future 5G network to offer a high data traffic capacity and efficient network connectivity. Moreover, software defined network (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) empower this architecture to visualize the physical network resources. The network slicing identified as a multiple logical network, where each network slice dedicates as an end-to-end network and works independently with other slices on common physical network resources. Most user devices have more than one smart wireless interfaces to connect to different radio access technologies (RATs) such as WiFi and LTE, thereby network operators utilize this facility to offload mobile data traffic. Therefore, it is important to enable a network slicing to manage different RATs on the same logical network as a way to mitigate the spectrum scarcity problem and enables a slice to control its user’s mobility across different access networks. In this paper, we propose a mobility management architecture based network slicing where each slice manages its users across heterogeneous radio access technologies such as WiFi, LTE and 5G networks. In this architecture, each slice has a different mobility demands and these demands are governed by a network slice configuration and service characteristics. Therefore, our mobility management architecture follows a modular approach where each slice has individual module to handle the mobility demands and enforce the slice policy for mobility management. The advantages of applying our proposed architecture include: i) Sharing network resources between different network slices; ii) creating logical platform to unify different RATs resources and allowing all slices to share them; iii) satisfying slice mobility demands

Heterogeneous Access: Survey and Design Considerations

As voice, multimedia, and data services are converging to IP, there is a need for a new networking architecture to support future innovations and applications. Users are consuming Internet services from multiple devices that have multiple network interfaces such as Wi-Fi, LTE, Bluetooth, and possibly wired LAN. Such diverse network connectivity can be used to increase both reliability and performance by running applications over multiple links, sequentially for seamless user experience, or in parallel for bandwidth and performance enhancements. The existing networking stack, however, offers almost no support for intelligently exploiting such network, device, and location diversity. In this work, we survey recently proposed protocols and architectures that enable heterogeneous networking support. Upon evaluation, we abstract common design patterns and propose a unified networking architecture that makes better use of a heterogeneous dynamic environment, both in terms of networks and devices. The architecture enables mobile nodes to make intelligent decisions about how and when to use each or a combination of networks, based on access policies. With this new architecture, we envision a shift from current applications, which support a single network, location, and device at a time to applications that can support multiple networks, multiple locations, and multiple devices

Application priority framework for fixed mobile converged communication networks

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.The current prospects in wired and wireless access networks, it is becoming increasingly important to address potential convergence in order to offer integrated broadband services. These systems will need to offer higher data transmission capacities and long battery life, which is the catalyst for an everincreasing variety of air interface technologies targeting local area to wide area connectivity. Current integrated industrial networks do not offer application aware context delivery and enhanced services for optimised networks. Application aware services provide value-added functionality to business applications by capturing, integrating, and consolidating intelligence about users and their endpoint devices from various points in the network. This thesis mainly intends to resolve the issues related to ubiquitous application aware service, fair allocation of radio access, reduced energy consumption and improved capacity. A technique that measures and evaluates the data rate demand to reduce application response time and queuing delay for multi radio interfaces is proposed. The technique overcomes the challenges of network integration, requiring no user intervention, saving battery life and selecting the radio access connection for the application requested by the end user. This study is split in two parts. The first contribution identifies some constraints of the services towards the application layer in terms of e.g. data rate and signal strength. The objectives are achieved by application controlled handover (ACH) mechanism in order to maintain acceptable data rate for real-time application services. It also looks into the impact of the radio link on the application and identifies elements and parameters like wireless link quality and handover that will influence the application type. It also identifies some enhanced traditional mechanisms such as distance controlled multihop and mesh topology required in order to support energy efficient multimedia applications. The second contribution unfolds an intelligent application priority assignment mechanism (IAPAM) for medical applications using wireless sensor networks. IAPAM proposes and evaluates a technique based on prioritising multiple virtual queues for the critical nature of medical data to improve instant transmission. Various mobility patterns (directed, controlled and random waypoint) has been investigated and compared by simulating IAPAM enabled mobile BWSN. The following topics have been studied, modelled, simulated and discussed in this thesis: 1. Application Controlled Handover (ACH) for multi radios over fibre 2. Power Controlled Scheme for mesh multi radios over fibre using ACH 3. IAPAM for Biomedical Wireless Sensor Networks (BWSN) and impact of mobility over IAPAM enabled BWSN. Extensive simulation studies are performed to analyze and to evaluate the proposed techniques. Simulation results demonstrate significant improvements in multi radios over fibre performance in terms of application response delay and power consumption by upto 75% and 15 % respectively, reduction in traffic loss by upto 53% and reduction in delay for real time application by more than 25% in some cases

Heterogeneous Wireless Networks QoE Framework

With the appearance of small cells and the move of mobile networks towards an all-IP 4G network, the convergence of these with Wi-Fi becomes a possibility which at the same time opens the path to achieve what will become 5G connectivity. This thesis describes the evolution of the different mainstream wireless technologies deployed around the world and how they can interact, and provides tools to use this convergence to achieve the foreseen requirements expected in a 5G environment and the ideal user experience. Several topics were identified as needing attention: handover between heterogeneous networks, security of large numbers of small cells connected via a variety of backhaul technologies to the core networks, edge content distribution to improve latency, improvement of the service provided in challenging radio environments and interference between licensed and unlicensed spectrum. Within these topics a contribution was made to improve the current status by analysing the unaddressed issues and coming up with potential improvements that were tested in trials or lab environment. The main contributions from the study have been: 1. A patent in the wireless security domain that reuses the fact that overlapping coverage is and will be available and protects against man in the middle attacks (Section 5.3). 2. A patent in the content distribution domain that manages to reduce the cost to deliver content within a mobile network by looking for the shortest path to the requested content (Section 6.3). 3. Improvements and interoperability test of 802.21 standard which improves the seamlessness of handovers (Section 4.2). 4. 2 infill trials which focus on how to improve the user experience in those challenging conditions (Sections 7.2 and 7.3). 5. An interference study with Wi-Fi 2.4GHz for the newly allocated spectrum for 4G (Section 8.2). This thesis demonstrates some of the improvements required in current wireless networks to evolve towards 5G and achieve the coverage, service, user experience, latency and security requirements expected from the next generation mobile technology

Universal Communication model and evaluation with the Elderly Society

Telecommunication uses today various devices, operating systems, network technologies and applications. The multiplicity and diversity of these items are expected to increase due to the development of new technologies. As a result communication becomes a challenge. Communication is according to the World Health Organization a basic requirement for participation of elderly people in the society. In this thesis the architecture model ¿Universal Communication Model¿ (UCM) for the unified application of these items is developed and investigated. The future society will merely be 60+ and lowered physical abilities for communication need to be compensated. Two hypotheses that represent challenges of the UCM are provided and investigated: First, ¿Elderlies have difficulties in stress and ad-hoc situations to cope with ICT solutions¿ (H 1), and second ¿Elderlies have problems to reach destinations¿ (H 2). Both hypotheses are divided into sub-hypotheses without and with UCM support. Two use cases are applied to the UCM: Elderly father at home called by his daughter from her car, and disoriented grandma walking to her appointment at the medical clinic using the public transportation system. The two use cases are detailed with scenarios and corresponding prototypes. 24 tasks for elderly probands are developed and executed in a laboratory setting with 30 elderlies (including a questionnaire): Half of the tasks, namely twelve, are designed without the UCM and the other half with the application of the UCM. The time measurements to solve the tasks are evaluated using two statistical methods: The Euclidean distance and the Kullback-Leibler divergence of the measured data distributions and the corresponding Gaussian distributions are computed. The experiments demonstrate that the task execution durations were reduced by a factor of up to six due to the application of the UCM (compared to the situation without UCM). And the (qualitative) satisfaction factor of the probands increased by a factor of up to four for all tasks due to the seamless and multimodal UCM. These results show that the UCM supports communication for the elderly society in a seamless and intuitive way.Ingeniería, Industria y Construcció