Efficient resource management in future heterogeneous wireless networks: The RIWCoS approach

Convergence of different wireless access networks and development towards 4G yields a necessity for more efficient resource management procedures in the integrated heterogeneous platform. The notion of resource is fundamentally different in heterogeneous environments (compared to homogeneous ones) as it is spanned across several different wireless solutions. This paper summarizes the development process of a novel architecture for resource management in heterogeneous wireless networks named RIWCoS. The architectural focal point is on the emerging IEEE 802.21 standard because of its ability to enable seamless and transparent vertical handovers. The paper shows simulation results of the IEEE 802.21 benefits and reports on a novel simulation analysis (using newly introduced metrics) of the RIWCoS architecture showing that it outperforms traditional serving policies of users in heterogeneous wireless environments. Moreover, the paper elaborates on a distinguished RIWCoS feature (the SAES algorithm) that enables efficient handling of emergency situations making the RIWCoS architecture suitable for military communications.