A Study On 3G-WLAN Integration

The continued growth of wireless communications networks and their increased ubiquity have transformed our society. The exponential growth of the Internet and the proliferation of cellular mobile systems and WLAN systems through out both home and business applications have generated both competition and cooperation among the different systems.The coverage and the quality of the service of cellular systems have both increased dramatically, but as it was not within the original scope of the design of cellular networks, indoor coverage and data capacity are still significantly limited. The theoretical data rates can reach upto 2 Mbps. WLAN systems were designed for indoor, data traffic and have demonstrated their ability to support the needs of limited mobility indoor clients. The theoretical data rates can reach upto 54 Mbps. Eventual convergence of the two communications networks will sought to provide better service and improved coverage for their users. The complementary characteristics of UMTS and WLAN make them attractive for integration to offer the best of both technologies utilizing the positive key features of both 3G and WLANThe main objective of the thesis is to study and analyze the different aspects related with the 3G-WLAN Integration. The thesis will aim to address the design principles, features, architectural methods of implementation of 3G-WLAN integration. Some basic principles would be provided as an abstraction for real practical implementations. The main 3G-WLAN integration issues are addressed: features, architecture methods, and evaluation. The mobile IP method, the gateway method, and the emulator method proposed to implement 3G-WLAN integration will be evaluated with respect to features and architectures. The thesis also presents the 3G and WLAN systems, architectures, protocols, thereby presenting the comparisons between the two systems with respect to each other in order to underline the motivation factors for the two systems' integration. The challenges to be faced during the implementation of integration are also presented and analyzed in the thesis.