Integrating UMTS and Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Although cellular networks such as GPRS (2.5G) or UMTS (3G) have achieved both circuit switching and packet switching services with wide area coverage, they still fall short of meeting the high data rate demands of mobile users. Integrating cellular network with other high-speed and low-cost wireless technologies is a key challenge for migrating to 4G. The IEEE 802.11 technology that has been well-developed and widely used in local area networks seems to be a proper choice for fulfilling users' expectations in hotspots. Its ad hoc mode of operation allows mobiles users to achieve connectivity with low infrastructure support. This paper proposes a design to achieve the internetworking between 802.11 mobile ad hoc network (MANET) and UMTS. The key approach in our design is to model inter-system handover as inter-SGSN handover, and connect gateway in the ad hoc network with the GGSN