Voice Call Continuity - A Critical Step Towards All-IP Based Next Generation Networks

The recent developments in the fixed and mobile telecommunication industry, namely the rapid penetration of broadband access and new charging models in the broadband market in conjunction with the success of wireless local area networks and the general trend of fixed and mobile convergence, are transforming the telecommunication landscape. One of the main challenges is to integrate the fixed and mobile technologies in a way that leverages the strengths of different technologies and improves the service experience for the end user. A crucial step for this transformation is to provide adequate support for users to seamlessly switch between network domains and technologies. The main contribution of this paper is a solution that allows a mobile terminal to change from the mobile radio access to the fixed/cable access provided over a local wireless network or vice versa without disrupting an active ongoing voice call. The implementation of the proposed solution was tested and evaluated in an experimental network with real voice calls.