QoS-aware mobility support architecture for next generation mobile networks

Provision of quality of service (QoS) support with mobility has received impetus from the evolution that has occurred in mobile communication technologies. This is especially the main driver behind 4G/B3G networks that will enable a user to access any type of services anytime, anywhere, and anyhow. In this paper, we first review some of the state-of-the-art techniques in the area of QoS and resource management based mobility. We then propose an augmented 4G/B3G architecture that addresses key limitations in the salient 4G architectures examined in the literature. Our proposed novel augmentations in mobility, QoS, and resource management schemes consolidate operation of the 4G architecture. The other defining attributes of our proposed 4G architecture are that it is open, hierarchical, layered, and modular with cross-layer coordination and distributed network functionalities. Well-defined message interfaces enable the layers/levels within the architecture to support cross-layer coordination under dynamic network conditions. A signaling network that operates independent of the heterogeneous access networks in the architecture is incorporated to carry out wireless system discovery and paging. This facilitates to conserve mobile terminal's battery power. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.