Subject: I-D ACTION:draft-njedjou-inter-an-handoffs-00.txt

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 07:18:59 -0400

A New Internet-Draft is available from the on-line Internet-Drafts directories.

	Title		: Motivation for Network Controlled Handoffs using IP 
                          mobility 
                          between heterogeneous Wireless Access Networks
	Author(s)	: E. Njedjou et al.
	Filename	: draft-njedjou-inter-an-handoffs-00.txt
	Pages		: 12
	Date		: 2003-6-11
	
In the near future, multi-interfaces Mobile Nodes will be used for 
connecting to the Internet by way of a multitude of Radio Access 
Networks including 802.11 based WLANs, GPRS, CDMA2000 and 3G based 
cellular networks. Ensuring the non-disrupted flow of real-time 
applications data, as well as adhering to subscribed service profiles 
while the Mobile Node moves between Access Networks of different 
technologies, is an issue that needs to be addressed. It is assumed 
that a unified and external IP core network is used to support such a 
multitude of Access Networks. This will probably be the case for a 
mobile network operator intending to benefit its subscribers with its 
own hot-spots broadband internet access. Consequently, the need 
arises to define managed handoff mechanisms between heterogeneous 
attachment networks, while providing service continuity to the Mobile 
Node. 
As such, information necessary for the Mobile Node to performing a 
judicious handoff across Wireless Access Networks, will have to be 
gathered from the involved Access Networks, transferred across the IP 
network that interconnects them, to the operators home network. 
This document discusses the desirability of a network controlled 
handoff process for optimizing inter-Access Network Mobile Node 
mobility. The approach presented provides the means for the operator 
home network to achieve the best possible selection of the Mobile 
Node target Access Network for handoff, on the basis of information 
gathered on the most relevant nodes. It introduces a new function 
located in the operator network and referred to as a Mobility 
Manager. It also introduces the concepts for implementing such a 
handoff process to make it compatible with Mobile IPv6. Other 
documents will be needed to specify the protocol structures that are 
intended for handling the handoff process hereafter described.

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