Incorporating proxy services into wide area cellular IP networks

Performance enhancing proxies have drawn considerable interests from the network community as an effective approach to improve user experience in cellular networks. Previous research on this subject has been focusing on the design of proxy servers as well as the functions that these servers provide. We study the placement of proxy servers, especially the approach of incorporating proxies into cellular networks, which allows better, faster, and more secure proxy services. We discuss various factors that must be considered when placing proxies inside cellular networks, including the information requirements of the proxies, the network requirements for supporting the proxy functions, and mobility management. Using GPRS as an example, we lay out a procedure for adding proxies into data transmission path in cellular networks.