| 3GPP and WLAN now have become the focus in the area of wireless commu- nication. As to the technology used in these two networks, they have both advantages and disadvantages. The 3GPP network can provide voice communication and data serv- ice over a large coverage area, and it supports worldwide roaming and rapid movement, but its transmission speed is relatively low. Whereas the WLAN technology can prov- ide high speed data service (up to 108Mbps with 802.11n) with low-cost network equip- ments though its coverage area is relatively small. So the connection between 3GPP and WLAN can combine the advantages of both the two technologies, and it can provide the customer with cheap, ubiquitous wireless services with high data rates.The 3GPP network can meet the QoS requirements of the traffics used in it, but when it is connected with WLAN, because of the traditional WLAN's disadvantage in QoS and the different QoS mechanism between them, it can not meet the QoS requirements of the traffics from 3GPP network. This limits the development of the connection between 3GPP and WLAN. The 3GPP R5 release the IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem), it is independent of access network. So it provides a good platform for the connection between 3GPP and WLAN. In this paper, firstly, the architecture of 3GPP network and the IMS are discussed briefly, and then analyzes the application of IP QoS in 3GPP network. Secondly, the new IEEE 802.11e protocol is studied which provides QoS for traffics in WLAN network. After that, the integrated QoS in 3GPP-WLAN is discussed in detail from the aspect of policy. The policy based QoS management architecture is extended to the WLAN, and a reflection of 3GPP QoS to WLAN QoS is introduced. Finally an improved WLAN QoS mechanism is put forward which can guarantee the QoS requirement of high priority user when the WLAN's load is heavy. The simulation results verify the feasibility of providing QoS in the 3GPP-WLAN network using this improved WLAN QoS mechanism. |
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