QoS in I-MPLS-based heterogeneous networks

The transition to all-IP technology in radio access networks (RAN) results in dramatic changes for the incumbent mobile network operators. In the future, network operators will have to support heterogeneous networks to satisfy customer´s needs. One of the challenges is to provide end-to-end QoS in heterogeneous networks, e.g. comprising WLANs as well as UMTS. In this paper we propose I-MPLS as a solution to ensure end-to-end QoS in a mixed WLAN-UMTS network. We introduce a transparent and unified QoS signaling scheme and describe the extensions required at the network nodes. In addition, we provide detailed rules on how to map the QoS parameters between the three types of networks