Security architecture in the UMTS network - A comparison with the FPLMTS network

Second generation mobile networks, as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and the Digital European Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) have been studied in the environment of the European mobile communications. These networks will be used for the nineties. However, third generation mobile communications are being developed in order to join these networks and to provide a single access. This paper claims to give a description of the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) and the Future Public Land Mobile Telecommunications Systems (FPLMTS) and to make a comparison between them with regard to security. For this purpose, several aspects of security mainly related to function entities, security architecture, call handling and location management are specially studied for both systems. The UMTS network is being developed within the European Commission's Research on Advanced Communications in Europe (RACE) in order to give telephonic mobile support in Europe and the rest of the world in the 2000s. In the UMTS network planning, an interface with other networks like the Universal Personal Telecommunications (UPT) has been defined and its integration with Broadband Integrated Services Digital Networks (BISDN) is being studied. Likewise it would be advisable to establish the compatibility between UMTS and FPLMTS.