HaVe-2W3G: A vertical handoff solution between WLAN, WiMAX and 3G networks

The demand for the ubiquitous service is increasing due to the rapidly growing demand for increased data rates, mobile Internet and the diversity of wireless communication technologies. Also due to the challenges to interconnect heterogeneous network technologies and to offer ubiquitous services, telecommunications operators look after the best way to provide continuity of service during handover and how to give the mobile client the possibility to get the best connection anywhere and anytime. In this paper we propose an architecture and its implementation which guarantees the continuity of service during a communication in the context of heterogeneous access network technologies. The suggested solution named HaVe-2W3G (Handover Vertical WLAN WiMAX 3G) ensures a Vertical handover between heterogeneous access networks technologies: WLAN, WiMAX and 3G. A performance evaluation of such implementation is shown using a streaming application.