A novel mobility management framework for future generation integrated wireless networks

The concept of using a separate network to carry signaling packets related to some basic mobility management functions in a heterogeneous wireless network environment has been proposed in MIRAI (multimedia integrated network by radio access innovation) architecture (see Wu, G. et al., IEEE Commun. Mag., p.126-34, 2002). In MIRAI architecture, a dedicated network takes care of the mobility functionalities of the participant wireless access networks. The dedicated network, called basic access network (BAN), is primarily used for paging whenever a call arrives for the mobile user for any of the wireless interfaces of the user's multi-service terminal, and for wireless system discovery when the user wants to initiate a call/session. We present the operation of the BAN in concert with the rest of the IP-based network, to realize a common signaling framework for heterogeneous mobility.