VoIP mobility in IP/cellular network internetworking

This article explores VoIP mobility in the context of IP and cellular networks interworking. ITU-T Rec. H.323 gateways provide the interconnection between IP networks and switched circuit networks. They allow a call originating from an SCN phone to be transmitted over an IP network to an H.323 terminal, or bridged to another SCN phone. While H.323 provides interoperability with other SCN terminals, the major efforts have been focused on IP/wired SCN (PSTN, ISDN, etc.) interworking. In this article we discuss the challenges associated with the interworking between IP networks and cellular networks through H.323 gateways, and propose an innovative approach using the existing call transfer supplementary service to provide VoIP mobility in the H.323 IP telephony networks. The proposed approach uses existing components in the H.323 standard, thereby allowing VoIP mobility service in hybrid IP/cellular networks to be a value-added feature in the existing H.323-compliant Internet telephony systems.