Mobile Networks and Management - First International Conference, MONAMI 2009, Athens, Greece, October 13-14, 2009. Revised Selected Papers (Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social-Informatics and Telecommunications, Vol 32)

"Taxonomy for GP-Aware Mobility (p. 93-94)

Abstract. We present a structured analysis for classification of diverse mobility schemes, resulting in a taxonomy for mobility in Future Internet systems. The different approaches discussed are based on the Generic Path (GP) concept, a unified framework for the transport of information, and all of them revolve around the existence of a binding between the user and the end-to-end path. Each of the schemes is mappable to real existing and envisioned scenarios, and cover a broad type of services, such as conversational, streaming or interactive ones. As a base to this structured analysis, the work introduces the concept of Generic Path Management Record (GPMR), a flexible record capable of storing relevant information for any type of path, at any level, such as throughput, delay SNR or even authentication paramenters. Thereby, GPMR behaves as much more than a mobility tool, extending its usefulness to everything related to the Network Management universe.

Keywords: 4WARD[1], Future Internet, GP, GPMR, Mobility support.

1 Introduction

The evolution of the actual Internet is a major current concern in the Telecommunications field, with the all-mighty Internet model, supported by the TCP/IP stack, showing its age. This model was created considering simple information transfer, such as file transfer and messages, in-between a restricted number of trusted nodes interconnected by copper. Such simplistic vision became increasingly inadequate to evolving user needs, and some alternative patches to this became commonly discussed, such as IPv6 [2] MIPv6 [3] DCCP [4]or SCTP [5] Part of the issues raised by the integration of new protocols in the Internet are correlated with the experience of more and more complex scenarios, mainly due to heterogeneity.

For instance, it is noted the increasing demand for video streaming sessions (e.g., IPTV) by group of users simultaneously. In such scenario, users (mobile or not and supporting different network interfaces) of the same group can be connected to different network technologies (Wi- Fi, WiMAX, 3G, etc.), as well as receive the data content through different transport schemes (broadcast, unicast and/or multicast). Thus, the simple Internet initial model has deeply changed in order to support set of new functionalities. Additionally, the end-to-end model has been questioned long ago: a simple HTTP session, originally intended for as an end-to-end transaction, is now frequently intercepted by firewalls and proxies along the path.

As a matter of fact, in spite of the huge success of the current Internet architecture, it is clear that we are not facing the ideal solution since it does not fit the needs brought by such new elements as optical communications systems or the inclusion of mobility and security as guaranteed features. A new Internet framework should take into account aspects and questions like naming, addressing, routing, QoS, self-management, seamless mobility, reliability and availability, interoperability, scalability, security, power consumption optimization and performance enhancement.

Heavy investment was put for researching the proper evolution for the Internet ([6][6], [7][7], [8][8]), with proposals alternating between the introduction of single-problem solutions, and the design of a clean slate architecture, both taking into consideration the foreseen services and characteristics that Future Internet should supply."