Performance analysis of a novel architecture to integrate heterogeneous wireless systems

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2006.06.014 Byline: Shantidev Mohanty (a), Jiang Xie (b) Keywords: Architecture; Heterogeneous wireless systems; Authentication; Vertical handoff Abstract: Current wireless world witnesses multiple heterogeneous systems such as Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, UMTS, and satellite networks. These systems are envisioned to coordinate with each other to provide ubiquitous communications to mobile users. A novel architecture, Architecture for ubiquitous Mobile Communications (AMC), is introduced in this paper that integrates these heterogeneous wireless systems. AMC eliminates the need for direct Service Level Agreements (SLAs) among service providers by using a third party, Network Inter-operating Agent (NIA). Instead of developing a new architecture, AMC extends the existing infrastructure to integrate heterogeneous wireless systems. It uses IP as the inter-connection protocol to provide transparency to the heterogeneities of individual systems. Third-party-based authentication and billing algorithms are designed for AMC. New handoff management protocols are also designed to support seamless vertical handoffs between different wireless systems in AMC. Performance analysis is carried out to determine the latency associated with vertical handoffs and the load on the NIA that arises because of these vertical handoffs. Toward this, a network deployment scenario that consists of three types of wireless systems: WLAN, 3G, and satellite networks is considered. Moreover, the number of SLAs required in AMC is also determined for a given number of network operators. It is also shown that by using hierarchical structure, AMC can realize the integration of heterogeneous wireless systems around the globe. Author Affiliation: (a) Intel Corporation, 2111 NE 25th Ave, Mail Stop JF3-336, OR 97124, United States (b) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, United States Article History: Received 23 March 2005; Revised 22 May 2006; Accepted 15 June 2006 Article Note: (miscellaneous) Responsible Editor: B. Baykal