Providing QoS and Rate Limiting for WiMAX Mobile Hotspots based on Policy and Charging Control Architecture

A hotspot offers Internet access over Wi-Fi through the use of a router connected to a link to an internet service provider. If the link is wireless, e.g., WiMAX, the hotspot becomes mobile. Under such a heterogeneous network, it is challenging to provide QoS and/or to control data rate. In this paper, we design and implement a policy server for commercial WiMAX mobile hotspots based on Policy and Charging Control (PCC) architecture defined in WiMAX Forum. The paper investigates a suitable QoS configuration including scheduling type. The experimental results show the feasibility of VoIP service over the mobile hotspots. The paper also shows how the rate limiting feature of our policy server can be utilized for different levels of customer service.