A ubiquitous mobile communication architecture for next-generation heterogeneous wireless systems

Rapid progress in research and development of wireless networking and communication technologies have created different types of wireless systems (e.g., Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, UMTS, and satellite networks). These systems are envisioned to coordinate with each other to provide ubiquitous high-data-rate services to mobile users. In this article, the architecture for ubiquitous mobile communications (AMC) is introduced that integrates these heterogeneous wireless systems. AMC eliminates the need for direct service level agreements among service providers by using a third party, a network interoperating agent. Instead of deploying a totally new infrastructure, AMC extends the existing infrastructure to integrate heterogeneous wireless systems. It uses IP as the interconnection protocol. By using IP as the gluing protocol, transparency to the heterogeneities of the individual systems is achieved in AMC. Third-party-based authentication and billing algorithms are designed for AMC. New mobility management protocols are also developed to support seamless roaming between different wireless systems.