Intelligent access and mobility management in heterogeneous wireless networks using policy

The next generation of mobile networks will utilise multiple radio access technologies. These heterogeneous wireless networks will enable the user to seamlessly roam between the different access technologies to maintain network connectivity and satisfactory QoS. Network operators will be able to select an access network on the arrival of a new call or handover request. Selecting the most optimal connection and controlling access to the available networks is an important consideration for overall network stability and providing guaranteed QoS. In this paper we propose an intelligent call admission control and mobility management architecture using policy-based management. A call admission policy admits a new user based on the current load and a predefined service mix. A network health monitor continuously updates the residual capacity by observing the quality of the current connections. The mobility management policy focuses on handover control between the available access networks. Mobiles can be selected for forced handover when a network reaches a congested state. A selection policy controls the mobile selection procedure.