Harmonization, mobility management, and fixed-mobile convergence: Studies in the ITU-T special study group on “IMT-2000 and beyond”

The various sectors of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have been addressing the evolution of third-generation and future wireless systems in the context of a comprehensive International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT-2000) project, and within the ITU´s Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) a Special Study Group on “IMT-2000 and Beyond” has been established to address the network aspects of these emerging wireless systems. The Special Study Group (SSG) is playing a global role in this general area, in which a number of regional standards development organizations and a variety of industry forums are also active. This paper provides background information on the SSG and describes the SSG´s ongoing work addressing medium-term issues relating to convergence of fixed and mobile systems and the harmonization of evolving IMT-2000 systems. The paper also addresses related mobility management aspects.