Hiperlan/2 Public Access Interworking with 3G Cellular Systems

This paper discusses some of the recent work within the Broadband Radio Access Network (BRAN) project of ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute), regarding the issue of establishing an interworking solution between Hiperlan/2 and 3G cellular systems and introduces the concept of Hiperlan/2 Public Access. So far the BRAN project has identified several fundamentally different types of possible solutions whose differences lie within the level of integration. The most essential requirements identified were authentication, mobility between Hiperlan/2 and 3G, service continuity, and preservation of the applied security levels. Recent agreements between ETSI, IEEE and MMAC may now take this work forward to produce a generic WLAN to 3G and external networks interworking standard. Indeed such work may also form the precursor for post 3G systems.