QoS and radio resource management in 3G and beyond systems

The provision of heterogeneous network topologies is conceptually a very attractive notion; however, it is certainly a challenge to the network designer. In particular, the available radio resources of coupled access networks will have to be managed jointly, up to the degree allowed by the coupling mechanism. Targeted is an optimum solution in terms of throughput, cost per packet, development and deployment cost, etc. radio resource management strategies are responsible for an utmost efficient utilization of the air interface resources in the radio access network (RAN). Any standalone wireless systems or heterogeneous hybrids thereof, rely on radio resource management strategies to guarantee a certain prior agreed QoS, to maintain the planned coverage area, to offer high capacity, etc. Without them, the most efficient physical transmission system coupled into the most sophisticated IP core network would fail. This presentation starts with a description of the RRM functionalities in the context of a single radio access technology (e.g. GERAN, UMTS, WLAN) together with specific RRM algorithms to provide more insight into the problem as well as insight into feasible solutions. Then, it will describe the added functionalities arising in a heterogeneous RANs context (e.g. GERAN plus UMTS plus WLAN in the same service area) and will provide a range of algorithm examples accompanied by illustrative performance results. Aspects related to network architectures, interworking capabilities and implementation aspects will also be discussed