Unified wireless access in hot-spot environment

Convergence, interoperability, and mobility are the major advances and factors of differentiation in 3G networks, while the inherent IP support will boost new personalized multimedia services. However, the deployment of a global all-IP wireless/mobile network is not a straightforward decision. A phased approach, focusing on "hot-spot" locations with complementary wireless technologies, seems to be one of the most realistic alternatives. This article discusses a new architecture called unified wireless access that focuses on public "hot-spots." The major algorithms of UniWA are analyzed and evaluated, while the gain is presented and illustrated in selected graphs.