Resource management methods for multi-access networks: emulation results for GSM

The Ambient Networks project aims at designing a future networking environment where today´s networks (cellular, wireless and fixed) are seamlessly integrated offering a richer and smarter networking experience to applications and users. Main characteristics include dynamic composition and establishment of inter-network agreements, multi-access, multi- operator and multi-hop operations, mobility and security support. Efficient resource management methods need to deal with the different characteristics of the heterogeneous access technologies: the access resources of each technology need to be abstracted up to a level of operation for resource management, this level being as much as possible technology independent. The work involves the definition of suitable resource abstractions, but also the definition of related algorithms for the respective abstraction layers and access selection modules. This paper presents two opposite methods for resource management in multi-access environments, contextualizing them on GSM specific access resources. Respective performance figures are then evaluated and compared through emulation.