Secure and Efficient Vertical Handover Authentication for 5G HetNets

5G is a new paradigm that brings new technologies to overcome the challenges of the next-generation wireless mobile network. Also, 5G is expected to supply fastest, most reliable network access to support huge data traffic and massively connected nodes with low latency and high throughput. There are different new technologies that are emerging to tackle requirements of the future wireless mobile network, such as Network Function Virtualization (NFV), Software Defined Networking (SDN) and cloud computing. The heterogeneous environment of 5G will cause frequent handoff in small cells where users join and leave frequently. Therefore, in this paper, the focus is on secure and seamless handover mechanism to supply strong, quick and mutual authentication. And, a careful attention is needed to security challenges, therefore, potential pitfalls can be avoided. It is begun by explaining emerging technologies for the 5G mobile network. Then, the architecture of SDN is briefly described. Finally, this article presents a fast and efficient vertical handover authentication for next-generation wireless mobile communication - 5G - based on SDN architecture.