Mobile users and applications are putting pressure on wireless network operators to improve the seamless handover of devices and services. Strong business competition for subscribers, along with the ever increasing availability of wireless networks will give nomadic and mobile users the opportunity, and systems the power, to make better handover decisions. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of the literature on mobility management architectures for seamless handover of mobile users in heterogeneous networks. We describe the design rationale for selected architectures, with an in-depth analysis of their main goals, assumptions, and requirements. We also provide directions for further work in this field by highlighting the mandatory requirements and the features of future architectures. We then present a new architecture called Context-Aware Mobility Management System (CAMMS). CAMMS is a new cross-layer, context-aware and interactive approach to seamless handover of users and services. With that proposal, we identified the essential functional entities that must be part of future architectures.

Vertical Mobility Management Architectures in Wireless Networks: A Comprehensive Survey and Future Directions

In this paper we present a novel framework for ns2 to facilitate the simulation and, in general, the design of beyond 3G networks. The set of libraries we wrote for this purpose is called Multi InteRfAce Cross Layer Extension for ns2 (MIRACLE). They enhance the functionalities offered by the Network Simulator ns2 by providing an efficient and embedded engine for handling cross-layer messages and, at the same time, enabling the coexistence of multiple modules within each layer of the protocol stack. For instance, multiple network, link, MAC or physical layers can be specified and used within the same node. The implications of this are manifold. First of all, the framework facilitates the implementation and the simulation of modern communication systems in ns2. Secondly, due to its modularity, the code will be portable, re-usable and extensible.As an example of the advantages offered by our architecture, we show how the MIRACLE framework can be used to quickly set up protocol architectures for Ambient Networks [1] and evaluate their performance in wireless and multi-technology environments. We stress that, even though the emphasis in the present paper is put on wireless systems, MIRACLE is a general framework which can be used for simulating wired networks as well as a mixture of wired and wireless scenarios. Throughout the paper we also discuss some of the downsides of existing ns2 extensions, which are often programmed in a rather ad hoc manner, according to specific needs or technologies and, as such, are often difficult to extend/re-use. In contrast, our effort aims at providing well defined interfaces and is based on a truly modular architectural design. Our work can be seen as a step toward the definition of a standard framework for the simulation of cross-layer, multi-technology and mobile systems in ns2.

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ns2-MIRACLE: a modular framework for multi-technology and cross-layer support in network simulator 2

Wireless access to the Internet is expected to be very valuable for both individuals and the society. However, advances in transmission technology alone may not be sufficient to support the anticip ...

/pdf/cost-effective-deployment-strategies-for-heterogenous-1yvms6cqez.pdf

Cost Effective Deployment Strategies for Heterogenous Wireless Networks

ns2-MIRACLE: a Modular Framework for Multi-Technology and Cross-Layer Support in Network Simulator 2

With the advent of multi-radio access (MRA), an integration of differentradio access technologies (RATs) into a heterogeneous radio access network(RAN) becomes feasible. Such integration allows a user to be at any instantof time served by one or multiple radio accesses (RAs) concurrently, where anRA constitutes an independent radio resource, such as a carrier or a channel,implemented by a single RAT. It also allows a user´s service demands to bemapped onto the aggregated network resources in a transparent and efficientway. An approach for the realization of such multi-radio integrated environmentsis through a unifying generic link layer (GLL) that provides joint radiolink processing and enables communication between nodes and devices acrossdifferent radio accesses.Based on the requirements on multi-access, an architecture that supportsMRA is suggested and the functions of GLL that aims at integrating andutilising multiple RATs are defined. We explore the potential for performanceimprovements through novel extensions of the transmission diversityparadigm which builds on GLL functions that enable multi-radio access selection.Multi-radio transmission diversity (MRTD) is defined as the dynamicselection of radio access for the transmission of a user´s data and it can bethought of as consisting of a packet scheduler operating across multiple radiointerfaces. Different MRTD schemes may be envisaged through combinationsof access re-selection rate, transmission parallelism and transmission redundancy.The re-selection rate refers to the rate at which radio access selectionis performed. It may range from multiple IP packets to one single MACframe. Switched MRTD corresponds to an access selection scheme where auser transmits via one RA at a time, while parallel MRTD corresponds to ascheme where simultaneous transmissions over multiple RAs are scheduled.Finally, redundancy refers to the transmission of copies of the same data overmultiple RAs to increase the possibility of correct reception.The benefits of MRTD are investigated by simulation studies on two multiradiocase scenarios, based on generic RATs and on specific RATs respectively.In the RAT generic scenario, switched MRTD has been evaluated for networktopologies of collocated and non-collocated RAs consisting of macroand pico-cells. In the case of collocated RAs, spectral efficiency is increasedby exploiting diversity in multi-path fading while in non-collocated RAs, thespectral efficiency increase is due to diversity exploitation in both shadowingand multi-path fading. Simulation results show that switched MRTD is mostadvantageous when the RAs provide comparable throughputs. Furthermore,when combined with multi-radio ARQ, MRTD significantly reduces packetloss and packet transmission delays. This is also shown in the specific radioaccesssimulation scenario where a delay sensitive voice service is studied. Inaddition, switched MRTD provides comparable gains to parallel MRTD interms of average packet transmission delay and packet loss, while using lessradio resources. In all cases, it is concluded that maximum performance isconditioned on the reporting delays of the channel quality indicator (CQI).Reporting delays of CQI that are half the channel coherence time render sucha complex MRTD mechanism less effective.

Generic link layer: a solution for multi-radio transmission diversity in communication networks beyond 3G

In this article we present a new networking concept referred to as ambient networks, which aims to enable the cooperation of heterogeneous networks belonging to different operator or technology domains. We aim to provide a domain-structured edge-to-edge view for the network control to embrace the heterogeneity arising from the different network control technologies. In this way, it appears as homogeneous to the users of the network services. We aim for an instant network composition to allow rapid adaptation of the network domain topology as required for moving networks. This new view of network composition allows us to treat the communication endpoints as a special case of network domains as well. We introduce the ambient control space, which enables the ambient networks concept and introduce its main features. Two ambient control space functions, media delivery and generic link layer, are presented in more detail. AMBIENT NETWORKS: AN ARCHITECTURE FOR COMMUNICATION NETWORKS BEYOND 3G

G. Malmgren

Papers

Ambient networks: an architecture for communication networks beyond 3G