A uniform AAA handling scheme for heterogeneous networking environments

Starting with an efficient mobility management scheme for heterogeneous wireless networks, this paper proposes a solution for AAA handling using a common database for storing user information. Regardless of the access technology selected, user@realm identities are used for authentication, authorization, and accounting. In particular, a new function is introduced in which port-based network access control is used in combination with dynamic host configuration protocol mechanisms for IP address allocation. This way, PPP-based and Ethernet-based access technologies are handled uniformly. Advantages with the proposed solution include: using only standardized mechanisms in the mobile node, as well as in the access networks. Only an additional plug-in in the AAA server (located in the access networks) needs to be deployed. The proposed AAA architecture has been implemented and evaluated in a live experimental environment. Results show authentication and authorization to perform efficiently and seamlessly.