Service continuity over intertechnology RATs

This paper proposes a novel architecture that integrates Media Independent Handover (MIH) 802.21 framework and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) functionalities in order to support multimedia services across intertechnology Radio Access Networks (RANs) in a secure and seamless manner. MIH framework is responsible for deciding and triggering a handoff based on physical, network and application layer statistics so that an ongoing multimedia session can be transferred seamlessly and securely (using context transfer) across inter-technology Radio Access Networks. In parallel, IMS provides the functionalities for providing uninterrupted service continuity across different network domains during vertical handoffs. The paper proposes a novel integration between MIH and IMS that results in minimizing handoff latency and improving perceived video quality in terms of PSNR. Real testbed experiments indicate that during a inter IMS domain, MIH vertical handoff with security enhancements, the handoff delay is reduced by 12sec during a 3G-WiFi handover as opposed to a non-integrated MIH/IMS architecture.