IEEE 802.21: Media independence beyond handover

The IEEE 802.21 standard facilitates media independent handovers by providing higher layer mobility management functions with common service primitives for all technologies. Right after the base specification was published, several voices rose up in the working group advocating to broaden the scope of IEEE 802.21 beyond handovers. This paper aims at updating the reader with the main challenges and functionalities required to create a Media Independence Service Layer, through the analysis of scenarios which are being discussed within the working group: 1) Wireless Coexistence, and 2) Heterogeneous Wireless Multihop Backhaul Networks.

Research Highlights
► Provides an up to date view of the discussions regarding the IEEE 802.21 WG future.
► Presents the authors’ view on how to extend the abstraction paradigm to other applications.
► Present the concept of Media Independent Service Layer (MISL).
► Discuss two applications of the MISL: Coexistence in the TV band and Wireless Mesh.