Enhancements for Simultaneous Access in Network-based Localized Mobility Management

Network-based localized mobility management (NetLMM) is considered as the future solution for the IP mobility management confined within the access network, as well as a solution for inter-access system handover between 3GPP and non-3GPP. In this paper, we enhance NetLMM to support simultaneous use of radio interfaces in 4G environments consisting of multi-interface mobile nodes and heterogeneous access technologies. All issues on how to manage and to use multiple interfaces simultaneously in NetLMM are identified. We present necessary enhancements for the network attachment and network detachment processes. It is pointed out that IP tunneling is not suitable for simultaneous access in NetLMM. Consequently, a new tunneling method, which is based on stream control transmission protocol (SCTP) and its extensions, referred to as virtual SCTP tunneling, is proposed. We show that that the new tunneling method is advantageous to both mobile users and network operators with the consideration of two scenarios, load-balancing and wireless bandwidth aggregation. Some simulation results are also provided in this paper as an early estimation of the new tunneling method.