An Algorithm for Radio Resources Management in Integrated Cellular/WLAN Networks

Radio resources management in integrated cellular and wireless networks is a very complex and important issue. Although a number of proposals exist in the literature that present considerable improvement in several aspects, they also present some disadvantages that affect their implementation and deployment. In an attempt to tackle this, we propose a simple distributed algorithm that enables terminals to build prioritised lists of target access network independently for each of their connections. The algorithm also provides specific details on how the core network components can treat each connection based on a number of parameters, which are of paramount importance for the operators. The final choice is a trade-off between the user preferences, the terminal capabilities, the network load and the location and speed of the terminal. The algorithm is designed to provide an easy method for defining user preferences. Finally, we provide an initial evaluation of the signalling load required inside the core network to support the proposed decision making mechanism and make suggestions on the best functional architecture of the radio resource management entities.