Virtual Price Based Policy Enforcement for Access Selection and Vertical Handover in Multi-Access Networks

In multi access network environments, mobile stations may encounter multiple choices for selecting an access network. Carefully designed access selection schemes can provide not only mobile users with better services but also network operators with better resource utilizations. It is also envisioned that further improvements can be achieved by redistributing mobile stations from one access network to another (i.e., vertical handovers). Such decisions should be made by following carefully designed, yet simple to implement, protocols. As a part of SK Telecom’s convergence network initiative, we have developed two radio resource management technologies using the concept of virtual price and evaluated performance of one of the techniques by creating multi-access network simulation environments in OPNET. The following components were implemented. 1) Multi-mode mobile station with Layer 2.5 to allow switch among different RATs. 2) Inter-network communication component. 3) Common radio resource management component to compute virtual prices and support access selection and VHO. 4) CDMA1X, EvDO, and HSDPA modules.