Recently, wireless access to Internet applications and services has attracted a lot of attention. However, there is no single wireless network that can meet all mobile users’ requirements. Con-sequently, integrated heterogeneous wireless networks are introduced to meet diverse wireless Internet applications and services requirements. On the other hand, integrated heterogeneous wireless networks pose new challenges to the design and development of reliable transport mechanisms. Wireless Application Protocol version 2 (WAP 2.0) is one of the promising trans-port mechanisms. It uses wireless profiled TCP (WP-TCP), which is fully compatible with TCP, as one of the reliable transport protocols to cope with the wireless link impairments. For WAP 2.0 to continue providing reliable and efficient transport services in the future, one of the key is-sues is to thoroughly study, understand, and improve its performance in integrated heterogeneous wireless networks. In this thesis, we develop analytical frameworks and propose a solution to respectively study and improve the performance of WP-TCP in integrated heterogeneous wireless networks. Spe-cifically, we consider WP-TCP short- and long-lived flows over integrated wireless local area network (WLAN) and wireless wide area network (WWAN), where WLAN can be static or mo-bile. In order to facilitate the analysis of WP-TCP performance in integrated WLAN and WWAN, we first construct a novel WLAN link model, which captures the impact of both uncor-related and correlated transmission errors, and derive mathematical expressions that describe packet loss probability and packet loss burst length over WWAN-WLAN link. Then, we develop analytical frameworks for studying the performance of WP-TCP short- and long-lived flows. Differently from those reported in the literature, our analytical framework for WP-TCP short-lived flows takes into account both correlated and uncorrelated packet losses. Furthermore, our analytical framework for long-lived flow can be used to study the short-term (during vertical handover) and long-term performances of WP-TCP and it captures the effects of vertical handover, such as excessive packet losses and sudden change in network characteristics, which are commonly experienced in integrated static WLAN and WWAN. By using the devel-oped analytical frameworks, we extensively analyze the performance of WP-TCP flows and in-vestigate the optimal protocol design parameters over a wide range of network conditions. Finally, based on our analytical studies, we propose a receiver-centric loosely coupled cross-layer design along with two proactive schemes, which significantly improve the vertical hand-over performance. The proposed solution is easy to implement and deploy, compatible with tra-ditional TCP, and robust in the absence of cross-layer information. Extensive simulations have been conducted to confirm the effectiveness and practicability of our schemes.

Recently, wireless access to Internet applications and services has attracted a lot of attention. However, there is no single wireless network that can meet all mobile users’ requirements. Con-sequently, integrated heterogeneous wireless networks are introduced to meet diverse wireless Internet applications and services requirements. On the other hand, integrated heterogeneous wireless networks pose new challenges to the design and development of reliable transport mechanisms. Wireless Application Protocol version 2 (WAP 2.0) is one of the promising trans-port mechanisms. It uses wireless profiled TCP (WP-TCP), which is fully compatible with TCP, as one of the reliable transport protocols to cope with the wireless link impairments. For WAP 2.0 to continue providing reliable and efficient transport services in the future, one of the key is-sues is to thoroughly study, understand, and improve its performance in integrated heterogeneous wireless networks. In this thesis, we develop analytical frameworks and propose a solution to respectively study and improve the performance of WP-TCP in integrated heterogeneous wireless networks. Spe-cifically, we consider WP-TCP short- and long-lived flows over integrated wireless local area network (WLAN) and wireless wide area network (WWAN), where WLAN can be static or mo-bile. In order to facilitate the analysis of WP-TCP performance in integrated WLAN and WWAN, we first construct a novel WLAN link model, which captures the impact of both uncor-related and correlated transmission errors, and derive mathematical expressions that describe packet loss probability and packet loss burst length over WWAN-WLAN link. Then, we develop analytical frameworks for studying the performance of WP-TCP short- and long-lived flows. Differently from those reported in the literature, our analytical framework for WP-TCP short-lived flows takes into account both correlated and uncorrelated packet losses. Furthermore, our analytical framework for long-lived flow can be used to study the short-term (during vertical handover) and long-term performances of WP-TCP and it captures the effects of vertical handover, such as excessive packet losses and sudden change in network characteristics, which are commonly experienced in integrated static WLAN and WWAN. By using the devel-oped analytical frameworks, we extensively analyze the performance of WP-TCP flows and in-vestigate the optimal protocol design parameters over a wide range of network conditions. Finally, based on our analytical studies, we propose a receiver-centric loosely coupled cross-layer design along with two proactive schemes, which significantly improve the vertical hand-over performance. The proposed solution is easy to implement and deploy, compatible with tra-ditional TCP, and robust in the absence of cross-layer information. Extensive simulations have been conducted to confirm the effectiveness and practicability of our schemes.

Heterogeneous wireless networking technologies such as satellite, UMTS, WiMax and WLAN are being used to provide network access for both voice and data services. In big cities, the densely populated areas like town centres, shopping centres and train stations may have coverage of multiple wireless networks. Traditional Radio Access Technology (RAT) selection algorithms are mainly based on the 'Always Best Connected' paradigm whereby the mobile nodes are always directed towards the available network which has the strongest and fastest link. Hence a large number of mobile users may be connected to the more common UMTS while the other networks like WiMax and WLAN would be underutilised, thereby creating an unbalanced load across these different wireless networks. This high variation among the load across different co-located networks may cause congestion on overloaded network leading to high call blocking and call dropping probabilities. This can be alleviated by moving mobile users from heavily loaded networks to least loaded networks. This thesis presents a novel framework for load balancing in heterogeneous wireless networks incorporating the IEEE 802.21 Media Independent Handover (MIH). The framework comprises of novel load-aware RAT selection techniques and novel network load balancing mechanism. Three new different load balancing algorithms i.e. baseline, fuzzy and neural-fuzzy algorithms have also been presented in this thesis that are used by the framework for efficient load balancing across the different co-located wireless networks. A simulation model developed in NS2 validates the performance of the proposed load balancing framework. Different attributes like load distribution in all wireless networks, handover latencies, packet drops, throughput at mobile nodes and network utilization have been observed to evaluate the effects of load balancing using different scenarios. The simulation results indicate that with load balancing the performance efficiency improves as the overloaded situation is avoided by load balancing.

There has been a steady growth in the traffic generated by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), and by 2020 it is expected to overload the existing licensed spectrum capacity and lead to the problem of scarce resources. One method to deal with this traffic overload is to access unlicensed and shared spectrum bands using an opportunistic approach. The use of Licensed Shared Access (LSA) is a novel approach for spectrum sharing between the incumbent user (i.e., the current owner of the shared spectrum) and the LSA licensee (i.e., the temporary user of frequencies, such as an MNO). The LSA system allows the incumbent users to temporarily provide the LSA licensee with access to its spectrum resources. However, licensees must adopt vertical handover and traffic steering procedures to vacate their customers from the LSA band without causing interference, whenever this is required by the incumbent. These procedures should be carried out, de facto, before the base station is turned off as a part of a rapid release of unscheduled LSA band facing evacuation scenarios. Thus, in this dissertation, a cognitive mechanism is proposed to make decisions in advance to find the best target network(s) for evacuated customers in connected mode and with active traffic per class of service. On the basis of these decisions, the vertical handover and traffic steering procedures are carried out for the best target network(s), which are selected in advance and undertaken immediately to avoid interference between the licensee and incumbent services. Furthermore, this guarantees the seamless connectivity and QoS of evacuated customers and their traffic respectively, during and after the unscheduled evacuation scenarios. A performance evaluation conducted in a simulating scenario consisting of one LTE-LSA and three Wi-Fi networks, demonstrated that the proposed solution could be completed within the time required for the unscheduled evacuation, as well as, being able to ensure the QoS and seamless connectivity of the evacuees. The total execution time obtained during the performance evaluation of the proposed solution was around 46% faster than of two related works and could thus avoid interference between the licensee and incumbent services.

There has been a steady growth in the traffic generated by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), and by 2020 it is expected to overload the existing licensed spectrum capacity and lead to the problem of scarce resources. One method to deal with this traffic overload is to access unlicensed and shared spectrum bands using an opportunistic approach. The use of Licensed Shared Access (LSA) is a novel approach for spectrum sharing between the incumbent user (i.e., the current owner of the shared spectrum) and the LSA licensee (i.e., the temporary user of frequencies, such as an MNO). The LSA system allows the incumbent users to temporarily provide the LSA licensee with access to its spectrum resources. However, licensees must adopt vertical handover and traffic steering procedures to vacate their customers from the LSA band without causing interference, whenever this is required by the incumbent. These procedures should be carried out, de facto, before the base station is turned off as a part of a rapid release of unscheduled LSA band facing evacuation scenarios. Thus, in this dissertation, a cognitive mechanism is proposed to make decisions in advance to find the best target network(s) for evacuated customers in connected mode and with active traffic per class of service. On the basis of these decisions, the vertical handover and traffic steering procedures are carried out for the best target network(s), which are selected in advance and undertaken immediately to avoid interference between the licensee and incumbent services. Furthermore, this guarantees the seamless connectivity and QoS of evacuated customers and their traffic respectively, during and after the unscheduled evacuation scenarios. A performance evaluation conducted in a simulating scenario consisting of one LTE-LSA and three Wi-Fi networks, demonstrated that the proposed solution could be completed within the time required for the unscheduled evacuation, as well as, being able to ensure the QoS and seamless connectivity of the evacuees. The total execution time obtained during the performance evaluation of the proposed solution was around 46% faster than of two related works and could thus avoid interference between the licensee and incumbent services.

There has been a steady growth in the traffic generated by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), and by 2020 it is expected to overload the existing licensed spectrum capacity and lead to the problem of scarce resources. One method to deal with this traffic overload is to access unlicensed and shared spectrum bands using an opportunistic approach. The use of Licensed Shared Access (LSA) is a novel approach for spectrum sharing between the incumbent user (i.e., the current owner of the shared spectrum) and the LSA licensee (i.e., the temporary user of frequencies, such as an MNO). The LSA system allows the incumbent users to temporarily provide the LSA licensee with access to its spectrum resources. However, licensees must adopt vertical handover and traffic steering procedures to vacate their customers from the LSA band without causing interference, whenever this is required by the incumbent. These procedures should be carried out, de facto, before the base station is turned off as a part of a rapid release of unscheduled LSA band facing evacuation scenarios. Thus, in this dissertation, a cognitive mechanism is proposed to make decisions in advance to find the best target network(s) for evacuated customers in connected mode and with active traffic per class of service. On the basis of these decisions, the vertical handover and traffic steering procedures are carried out for the best target network(s), which are selected in advance and undertaken immediately to avoid interference between the licensee and incumbent services. Furthermore, this guarantees the seamless connectivity and QoS of evacuated customers and their traffic respectively, during and after the unscheduled evacuation scenarios. A performance evaluation conducted in a simulating scenario consisting of one LTE-LSA and three Wi-Fi networks, demonstrated that the proposed solution could be completed within the time required for the unscheduled evacuation, as well as, being able to ensure the QoS and seamless connectivity of the evacuees. The total execution time obtained during the performance evaluation of the proposed solution was around 46% faster than of two related works and could thus avoid interference between the licensee and incumbent services.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / O uso de dispositivos multi-interface, tais como smart phones, tem crescido ao mesmo tempo que as demandas por melhores serviÃos de mobilidade em redes heterogÃneas. Neste cenÃrio, a ideia da continuidade de serviÃos tornou-se um requisito crucial. Para atender essas demandas, esquemas eficientes de handover devem ser desenvolvidos com o objetivo de alcanÃar o chamado Handover Transparente, que significa a mudanÃa de domÃnios de rede de uma forma transparente e sem a descontinuidade dos serviÃos para o usuÃrio final. Atualmente, existem diferentes esquemas de handover e alguns deles podem envolver diferentes tecnologias de acesso (Handover Vertical). Entretanto, o tempo de interrupÃÃo do serviÃo ainda à um problema a ser resolvido. A principal proposta deste trabalho à uma melhoria para Handovers Verticais utilizando mobilidade IP, objetivando o tÃo desejado Handover Transparente. Neste trabalho, fez-se uso do framework MIH (Media Independent Handover) fornecido pelo padrÃo IEEE 802.21 para habilitar o handover vertical em redes heterogÃneas. AlÃm disso, propÃe-se uma extensÃo do protocolo FMIPv6 (Fast Handovers for Mobile IPv6), o FaHMA (Fast Handovers using Multicast Addressing), utilizando endereÃamento multicast para gerenciar a mobilidade nesses tipos de rede. Para fazer a anÃlise de desempenho, simulaÃÃes foram utilizadas considerando-se mÃtricas tais com o atraso do handover e a perda de pacotes como os critÃrios mais importantes para avaliar a efetividade da soluÃÃo. Os resultados destas simulaÃÃes mostraram que o FaHMA obtÃm melhores resultados que o FMIPv6, inclusive em relaÃÃo aos fatores que determinam a qualidade do funcionamento de aplicaÃÃes multimÃdias em rede. / The use of multi-interface devices such as smart phones has grown at the same time as the demands for efficient mobility services in heterogeneous networks. In this scenario, the idea of service continuity has become a crucial requirement. To achieve these demands, efficient handover schemes should be developed aiming to achieve Seamless Handover, which means the change of network domains in a transparent way and without services discontinuity to the end user. Currently, there are different schemes for handover and some of them may be used between different access technologies (Vertical Handover). However, the service time disruption is still a major problem to be solved. The main purpose of this study is to propose an improvement for Vertical Handovers using IP mobility, aiming at Seamless Handover. In this work, the framework provided by the MIH (Media Independent Handover) IEEE 802.21 is used to enable vertical handover in heterogeneous networks, and propose an extension of FMIPv6 (Fast Handovers for Mobile IPv6) called FaHMA (Fast Handovers using Multicast Addressing), using multicast in order to manage mobility in these types of networks. To make the performance analysis, we decided for simulations and we considerered metrics such as the handover delay and packet loss as the most important criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of our proposal. Simulation results have shown that FaHMA achieve better results than FMIPv6, including factors that determine the quality of operation in networked multimedia applications.

Recent studies have shown that there are currently more than 1.08 billion of Smartphones in the world, with around 89% of them used throughout the day. On average each of these users transfers more than 450 Mbytes per month via either a cellular network or a Wi-Fi network. So far it has been up to the user to decide which one of these two networks to use at each particular moment. In this master’s thesis, the potential energy savings that could be achieved by means of automating the choice of network interface are explored. This way, the user equipment itself would be able to initiate handovers from one radio access technology to another depending on each particular service and on the environmental conditions, and hence it could extend its battery life. The work has focused in energy efficient vertical handovers (VHOs) between Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and Wi-Fi networks. The rapid growth and increasing interest in LTE networks have been the main reasons why these networks have been chosen over Third Generation Mobile Networks. Nevertheless this work can be easily extended to other radio access technologies such as WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) or UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System). During the thesis project, the potential energy savings via VHOs depending on the type of service have been studied, as well as the different processes involved in a handover decision process. In order to do so, an energy consumption profile of each interface has been built, the different services have been modeled, and a heterogeneous scenario with Wi-Fi and LTE networks has been simulated. The thesis presents how these savings change within each service and with the environmental conditions (network load, interferences). The results show that large energy savings can be achieved. Nevertheless, the potential savings for each different user device can significantly differ. The VHO decision process includes two main aspects that need further study: investigating energy efficient ways of discovering accessible Wi-Fi access points and measuring the available throughput in each network at the moment of the decision. In addition, within LTE-Advanced and HetNets (Heterogeneous Networks), a lot of research regarding how LTE operators can offload traffic to smaller networks is being performed. These smaller networks consist basically of LTE micro cells and Wi-Fi. Both the energy savings and the potential energy expenses of offloading different kinds of traffic to a Wi-Fi network were also studied in this master’s thesis project, using the same approach described in the previous two paragraphs. / Enligt beräkningar så finns det nu mer än 1.08 miljarder smarta telefoner i världen, och ungefär 89% av dem används varje dag. Varje användare överför mer än 450 megabyte per månad i genomsnitt, antingen via cellulära mobilnät eller Wi-Fi. För närvarande är det användaren som avgör vilket av dessa interface som ska användas vid varje tidpunkt. I detta examensarbete utvärderas vilka energibesparingar som kan uppnås genom att automatisera valet av nätverksinterface. På detta vis skulle den mobila enheten själv utföra handover från en radioaccessteknik till en annan beroende på aktiva tjänster och på radioomgivningen, och därmed utöka batteriets livstid. Detta examensarbete fokuserar på vertikal handover mellan LTE och Wi-Fi nätverk. Den snabba tillväxten och det ökande intresset för LTE är den främsta anledningen till att LTE har valts istället för 3G. Det är dock möjligt att med små förändringar generalisera arbetet till andra radioaccesstekniker, till exempel WiMAX eller UMTS. De potentiella energibesparingarna genom vertikala handovers för olika typer av tjänster har studerats, liksom de olika stegen i handover-beslutsprocessen. För detta syfte har en energikonsumtionsprofil skapats för varje interface, de olika tjänsterna har modellerats och ett scenario med Wi-Fi- och LTE-nätverk har simulerats. Denna rapport beskriver hur dessa energibesparingar ändras för varje tjänstetyp och med ändringar av omgivningen (nätverkslast och interferens). Resultaten har visat att stora energibesparingar kan uppnås, även om dessa besparingar kan variera mycket för olika UEs. Beslutet om vertikal handover inkluderar två huvudsakliga aspekter som kräver fortsatta studier: energieffektiva metoder för att upptäcka tillgängliga WiFi-accesspunkter som går att ansluta sig till och mätning av den upplevda datahastigheten i varje nätverk före beslutet om vertikal handover tas. Parallelt med detta examensarbete pågår omfattande studier om hur mobiloperatörer kan avlasta datatrafik till basstationer med kortare räckvidd. Dessa småskaliga nätverk förväntas bestå av LTE mikro/pico celler och/eller Wi-Fi nätverk. Detta examensarbete inkluderar även studier av de potentiella energibesparingar eller energikostnader för att avlasta olika slags trafik till Wi-Fi nätverk.

Heterogeneous wireless networking technologies such as satellite, UMTS, WiMax and WLAN are being used to provide network access for both voice and data services. In big cities, the densely populated areas like town centres, shopping centres and train stations may have coverage of multiple wireless networks. Traditional Radio Access Technology (RAT) selection algorithms are mainly based on the ¿Always Best Connected¿ paradigm whereby the mobile nodes are always directed towards the available network which has the strongest and fastest link. Hence a large number of mobile users may be connected to the more common UMTS while the other networks like WiMax and WLAN would be underutilised, thereby creating an unbalanced load across these different wireless networks. This high variation among the load across different co-located networks may cause congestion on overloaded network leading to high call blocking and call dropping probabilities. This can be alleviated by moving mobile users from heavily loaded networks to least loaded networks. This thesis presents a novel framework for load balancing in heterogeneous wireless networks incorporating the IEEE 802.21 Media Independent Handover (MIH). The framework comprises of novel load-aware RAT selection techniques and novel network load balancing mechanism. Three new different load balancing algorithms i.e. baseline, fuzzy and neural-fuzzy algorithms have also been presented in this thesis that are used by the framework for efficient load balancing across the different co-located wireless networks. A simulation model developed in NS2 validates the performance of the proposed load balancing framework. Different attributes like load distribution in all wireless networks, handover latencies, packet drops, throughput at mobile nodes and network utilization have been observed to evaluate the effects of load balancing using different scenarios. The simulation results indicate that with load balancing the performance efficiency improves as the overloaded situation is avoided by load balancing.

The health applications aimed at monitoring patients remotely have reached great proportions with the advancement of wireless networks. This paper presents a study of performance evaluation of biosignal traffic, which was simulated the transmission of patient data in emergency situations. The simulation scenario considered the transmission of signals from an ambulance through wireless network and collected in a medical monitoring center. On the way to the hospital, while the mobile broadcast biosignals moved between areas covered by different network technologies, featuring vertical handover situation. Based on the minimum QoS requirements prevailing in the scientific community, the most important parameters in healthcare applications such as loss rate, delay, throughput and jitter were evaluated. Was still considered a minimum bandwidth required for transmission of vital signs, taking into account rates of known samples to physicians signs such as electrocardiogram (ECG), blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature and rate of oxygen saturation blood. To evaluate the performance, were carried computer simulations using an implementation of the IEEE 802.21 standard for the simulator NS-2. The simulated scenario used the networks of Wi-Fi and WiMAX technologies, mobile with multiple interfaces and nodes cargo, which made transmissions with constant rates. The results showed that the network technologies in use can meet the minimum QoS requirements for medical applications. / As aplicações de saúde voltadas para monitoramento de pacientes a distância têm atingido grandes proporções com o avanço das redes sem fio. Este trabalho apresenta um estudo de avaliação de desempenho do tráfego de biosinais, no qual foi simulado a transmissão de dados de pacientes em situações de emergência. O cenário de simulação considerou a transmissão dos sinais a partir de uma ambulância, através de rede sem fio e coletados em um centro de monitoramento médico. No percurso até o hospital, o móvel transmitiu biosinais enquanto transitou entre áreas cobertas por tecnologias de rede distintas, caracterizando situação de handover vertical. Com base nos requisitos mínimos de QoS praticados na comunidade científica, foram avaliados os parâmetros mais importantes em aplicações de saúde como taxa de perdas, atraso, vazão e jitter. Ainda foi considerada uma largura de banda mínima necessária para transmissão de sinais vitais, levando-se em conta as taxas de amostragens conhecidas para sinais médicos como Eletrocardiograma (ECG), Pressão arterial, Frequência cardíaca, Temperatura do corpo e Taxa de saturação de oxigênio no sangue. Para avaliar o desempenho, foram realizadas simulações computacionais com o uso de uma implementação do padrão IEEE 802.21 para o simulador NS-2. O cenário simulado utilizou as redes das tecnologiasWi-Fi eWiMAX, dispositivo móvel com múltipla interface e nós de carga, os quais realizaram transmissões com taxas constantes. Os resultados mostraram que as tecnologias de rede em uso podem atender aos requisitos mínimos de QoS para aplicações médicas.