Enhanced Methods for SIP based Session Mobility in a Converged Network

The worlds of fixed and mobile networks are merging towards fixed mobile converge (FMC). This process brings many challenges to networking technologies to support an optimal level of security, QoS and mobility across heterogeneous fixed and mobile access networks. Efficient mobility management mechanism able to provide desired level of mobility is one of the key issues in FMC development. This paper presents enhanced methods for SIP based session mobility that brings continuous mobility, privacy protection and interdomain mobility across access and core networks possibly managed by different providers. This paper is organized as follows. First an overview of the standard SIP mobility mechanisms is given with its advantages and drawbacks. Afterwards, the SIP controlled IP soft handover concept is proposed as the method to overcome standard SIP mobility shortcomings. Finally a conclusion is given.