GANS: A Signalling Framework for Dynamic Interworking Between Heterogeneous Networks

There is a growing trend towards convergence of telecommunication and data networks in order to support a richer set of services and applications. At the same time, increasing diversity and density of network access technologies has made the goal of providing connectivity anytime and anywhere a real possibility. Another important development is the emergence of small, low-complexity user owned networks, such as personal area networks and body area networks. Dynamic interworking, also known as network composition, between networks of different types and sizes is essential in the push towards convergence, as well as to realize truly seamless connectivity between heterogeneous access networks. Dynamic interworking requires signalling between different elements of the control planes of the different networks in order to coordinate the control functions and resources of the networks concerned. In this paper, we present the generic ambient network signalling protocol suite to address the diverse signalling requirements for dynamic interworking of networks.