The ‘pure-IP’ Moby Dick 4G architecture

Network operators, service providers and customers are players who have different interests and raise different requirements on the functionality of future mobile communication networks. However, some new capabilities, such as mobility, security, ubiquity and quality are spelled out by all, which means that there exist some fundamental mechanisms which are in fact needed in every network. This paper concentrates on critical elements of the network infrastructure which need to be deployed in 4G networks before services can be offered. In the paper we discuss these elements, and show how they can be combined to satisfy versatile service requirements. Furthermore, the paper shows how to combine these mechanisms of three traditionally quite separate architectures-for Authentication, Authorisation, Accounting and Charging (AAAC), for Mobility (Mobile IP with Fast Handover), and Quality-of-Service (QoS). A technology-independent paging concept is also integrated in this system. The resulting integrated system architecture is general and can be deployed in heterogeneous environments. Our implementation has recently been completed, validated and verified with applications such as data transfer, voice-over-IP, video streaming and real time concurrent gaming. This prototypical implementation incorporates TD-CDMA, 802.11 WLANs and Ethernet, and treats all transmission technologies as physical and data-link layers, while higher-level functions are supported in a uniform way with an all-IPv6-based signalling.