QoS guaranteed integration methodology for a WLAN–WiMAX heterogeneous network

Wireless technologies which serve multimedia applications have to guarantee the Quality of Service (QoS) demands along with seamless connectivity. The complexity in attaining such demands increases if the network is heterogeneous in nature. This paper proposes a QoS guaranteed integration methodology for a heterogeneous wireless local area network (WLAN) – worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) network. An integrated protocol stack for the mobile terminal which could work in a WLAN–WiMAX heterogeneous network is proposed. The proposed integrated protocol stack, a blend of two modules namely generic virtual link layer (GVLL) and media independent handover (MIH) is placed above the media access control (MAC) layer which includes both WLAN and WiMAX MAC. The impact of GVLL in guaranteeing the QoS on QoS deterioration and the impact of MIH in attaining seamless handover are analyzed and the results are presented.