Interworking of heterogeneous access networks and QoS provisioning via IP multimedia core networks

Moving towards packet networks, where IP will have a prominent role, constitutes nowadays a widely accepted perception of future communications, the first instance of which has begun to materialise with the IP multimedia core network subsystem (IMS). By specification, IMS is the first implementation towards reaching converged communications which allows users to communicate with video, audio and multimedia content, via any fixed, mobile and wireless access network type, with controllable QoS. To enable IMS communications across heterogeneous networks, incorporating UMTS, WLAN and fixed IP access points, 3GPP and ETSI’s TISPAN currently work on schemes for controlling bandwidth allocation at the service level by employing logical interfaces that carry SIP messages. This article analyzes how interconnection between such heterogeneous networks may be performed on real platforms. In this effort, special attention is paid to the way the various interconnection possibilities can affect end-to-end QoS provisioning.