Title of Invention

SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR INTEGRATING 3G AND IEEE802 16 WIRELESS NETWORKS

Abstract

The present invention relates to efficient IP networking system and methods for integrated 3G-IEEE802.16 wireless multimedia networks. We present three types of systems for the integration: 1) when the 3G and IEEE 802.16 networks operate independently, 2) when the IEEE 802.16 network is used as a backhaul to the 30 network and 3) when the PPP connection in the 3G network terminates at the base station controller (BSC) instead of the packet data serving node (PDSN). We introduce a module termed an integrator which has the functionalities of both the 3G as well as the IEEE 802.16 network.

Full Text

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY This invention relates to the field of Wireless Multimedia Networks. This invention in general relates to the field of 3G and IEEE802.16 Wireless Multimedia Networks. More particularly this invention encompasses the efficient system and methods for integrating 30 and IEEE802.16 Wireless Multimedia Networks. PRESENT STATE OF ART A wireless multimedia network would typically support several types of applications such as multimedia conferencing, multimedia streaming, web browsing, games. File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Voice over Internet Phone (VoIP) etc. Some applications, such as, multimedia conferencing and streaming consist of several flows. Here, a flow can be a microflow or a macroflow. Here, a microflow is described via the following 5-tuple: IP source address, IP destination address. Layer 4 protocol type like Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), Universal Datagram Protocol (UDP) etc.. Layer 4 source port number, and Layer 4 destination port number. A macroflow is described via the following 3-tuple: IP source addresses, IP destination address, and Layer 4 protocol type. Multimedia applications can have the following types of flows: - Forward link data flow for audio (FLDF-A), - FoHA/ard link data flow for video (FLDF-V), - Reverse link data flow for audio (RLDF-A), - Reverse link data flow for video (RLDF-V), - Forward link control flow for audio (FLCF-A), - Forward link control flow for video (FLCF-V), - Reverse link control flow for audio (RLCF-A), - Reverse link control flow for video (RLCF-V). Here, fonA/ard link data flows (FLDFs) are: FLDF-A and FLDF-V. Reverse link data flows (RLDFs) are: RLDF-A and RLDF-V. Similarly, forward link control flows (FLCF) are: FLCF-A and FLCF-V. Reverse link control flows are: RLCF-A and RLCF-V. These control packets are used to provide feedback to the source and destination nodes about the received quality of audio and video flows. They are also used to control the rate at which data is sent from the source node to the destination node. Many data (and some control) flows have certain QoS requirements that are specified via some of the following parameters: delay bound, delay jitter, average delay, throughput, and packet loss. 3G Architecture: Some of the 3G wireless networking technologies is CDMA2000 1xEV-DV, CDMA2000 1xEV-D0 and WCDMA. A schematic diagram of a 3G network (specifically, CDMA2000 1xEV) is shown in Figure 1. Here, MS is the mobile station, BS is the base station, PCF is the packet control function block and WER is the wireless edge router. An IP networking system for this type of networks is described in "wireless IP network standard", www.3gpp2.org 3GPP2 P.S0001-B. Figure 2 and 3 show existing 3G networking systems for simple IP and mobile IP respectively. BS and RN (Radio Network) are used interchangeably in the text below. The BS essentially includes the BSC and the BTS shown in the Figure 1. Queue management architecture for 3G networks is shown in Figure 4. Here per-flow (or per-mobile) IP packet queues are maintained at the PDSN and per-flow MAC packet queues are maintained at the BTS. Figure 5 shows the case when there are multiple flows per mobile device. Here, a service reference identifier (SRJd) is assigned to each flow. PPP end points are maintained at the mobile device and at the PDSN. Figure 6 shows signaling in 3G networks which are used to establish path for each session. Refer to the following for more details about this signaling: (1) www.3gpp2.org, and (2) Mukesh Taneja, Efficient IP Networking System and Methods for 3G Wireless Multimedia Networks, Patent Application number: 886/CHE/2003. initial session establishment between the MS and CN could be done via session level protocols (such as SIP - RFC3261, RTSP - RFC2326 described at the ww.ietf.org). A QoS signaling protocol, RSVP, has been described in "RSVP -RFC2205, www.ietf.org". As shown in Figure 7, RSVP sends Path message in the direction of data flow and Resv message in the opposite direction for each flow. For forward link flows, RSVP would require CN to generate RSVP Path message for each flow. In most of the cases, the CN in current networks does not support RSVP and thus cannot initiate RSVP path establishment. Also, the WER doesn't have knowledge of the session protocols exchanged between the CN and the MS, and thus cannot generate Path message on its own. For reverse link flows, the MS could generate RSVP Path message that needs to be sent to the CN. Again, CN could be a media server and may not support RSVP. In such situations, some mechanism is needed at the WER to decide whether or not to foHA/ard the Path message towards CN and transform the message in some format, as needed. For data and control path establishment between the WER-BSC (i.e. PDSN-BSC) and the BTS-MS, current 3G networking standards for CDMA2000 systems use A-interface messages as described in www.3gpp2.org. Also a PPP session is established between the MS and the PDSN (or WER). In this system, only the PDSN (or WER) has full visibility into the IP packet headers. Figure 8 gives schematic architecture of an IEEE802.16 network. In typical split architecture, AP is the access point where physical layer functions of IEEE802.16 are terminated. Real-time functions of MAC are also terminated here. Non-real time functions of MAC and management functions are terminated at the access controller (AC). The IEEE 802.16 specifies two PHY standards: a) the 10-66 GHz standard for (LOS) communication and the 2-11 GHz standard for the NLOS communication. The 10-66 GHz standard is a single carrier standard with TDM on the downlink (DL) and TDMA on the uplink (UL). The standard defines both TDD and FDD for duplexing. The 2-11 GHz could operate in the single carrier mode or multi-carrier mode. In the multi-carrier mode, the multiple accesses could be OFDM with TDMA on the UL and OFDM with TDM on the DL, or OFDMA with TDMA on the UL and OFDMA with TDM on the DL. Between the PHY and the MAC layer, the standard defines a traffic convergence (TC) layer, which converts variable length MAC PDUs to fixed length FEC blocks. The TC layer assists in resynchronization if a MAC PDU is lost due to irrecoverable PHY errors. The MAC layer in the IEEE 802.16 d/e standard consists of three sub-layers 1. Service specific convergence sub-layer (CL) 2. Common part sub-layer (CP) 3. Privacy sub-layer The CL is made up of two types, the ATM CL and the packet CL. The ATM CL contains the QoS requirements and the traffic specifications of ATM traffic and the packet CL refers to traffic of IPv4, IPv6, Ethernet or virtual LAN (VLAN). The CL information is used for bandwidth provisioning. The CP consists of the MAC PDU payloads and the corresponding headers. The MAC in IEEE 802.16 d/e is connection oriented and a unique 16-bit CID is assigned to each flow. Refer to http://ieee802.org/16/ for more details about IEEE802.16 architecture. SUMMERY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly this invention explains a system for integrating 3G and IEEE802.16 wireless networks wherein the said system comprise a 3G-802.16 integrator, a mobile user in an IEEE802.16 network which establishes a session for an application and its corresponding flows as per the setup procedures. Accordingly this invention also explains a system for integrating 3G and IEEE802.16 wireless networks wherein the IEEE802.16 network acts as a backhaul for 3G network comprising: a 802.16 mobile station which is co-located with the 3G-PDSN; and a new interface which is adapted to communicate relevant information between 3G-PDSN and 802.16 mobile stations; where the said mobile station in 3G networks establishes a session in 3G networks using the process defined in 3GPP2. Accordingly this invention also explains a system for integrating 3G and IEEE802.16 wireless networks wherein the said system comprising: a 3G-802.16 integrator which is used to convey state information for each flow of one type of network to another type of network where the integrator communicates directly with 3G-BSC and communicates with access controller of the 802.16 network. Accordingly this invention also explains a method for integrating 3G and IEEE802.16 wireless networks utilizing the said system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a 3G network specifically, CDMA2000 1xEV. Figure 2 show existing 3G networking systems for simple IP Figure 3 show existing 3G networking systems for mobile IP. Figure 4 shows queue management architecture for 3G networks . Figure 5 shows the case when there are multiple flows per mobile device. Figure 6 shows signaling in 3G networks which are used to establish path for each session. Figure 7: RSVP Protocol. Figure 8 gives schematic architecture of an IEEE802.16 network. Figure 9: Type I Architecture for 3G-802.16 Integrated Networks Figure 10: Signaling between 802.16-AC and 3G-802.16 Type I integrator Figure 11: Type II Architecture for Integrated 3G-802.16 System Figure 12: 3G-802.16 Integrated system - Type III DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 3G-IEEE802.16 System I In this system, following is done (refer to Figure 9): • A 3G-802.16 integrator is used which we call Type I integrator here. A mobile user in an IEEE802.16 network establishes session for an application and its corresponding flow(s) as per the setup procedures used in IEEE802.16 standard documents. For 3G-PDSN, these sessions appear as 3G sessions. This is accomplished with the use of Type I integrator proposed here. • A PPP session per mobile user is established between 3G-802.16 type I integrator and 3G-PDSN. • 802.16-AC keeps state information for each flow which exists in its associated IEEE802.16 network(s). Upon session establishment / modification / deletion of a flow, this information is conveyed to the 3G-802.16 type I integrator. • A mobile station in IEEE802.16 network first registers with the access point and access controller of the 802.16 networks (i.e. with 802.16-AP and 802.16-AC shown in Figure 9). If this mobile station indicates that it also has capability to access 3G network, this registration request is forwarded to 3G-802.16 Type I integrator. For this purpose, a signaling protocol is used which is also proposed in this invention document. This registration message is further conveyed to the 3G-PDSN. • Similarly, a mobile station in a 3G network first registers with the 3G-PDSN. If this mobile station has capability to access IEEE802.16 network also, its registration request is fon/varded to 3G-802.16 Type I integrator which further conveys this information to 802.16-AC. • Signaling between 802.16-AC and 3G-802.16 type I integrator: State information for each flow in the IEEE802.16 network is conveyed to the 3G-802.16 type I integrator. Similarly, state information for each flow in the 3G network is conveyed to the 802.16 Type I network integrator. This enables each type of network (3G or 802.16) to get state information about flows in other type of network. • To convey this information, a TCP connection is created between 802.16-AC and 3G-802.16 type I integrator. This TCP connection manages state information for all the 802.16 flows which terminate at the corresponding 802.16-AC. Following signaling messages are used to convey state information from 802.16-AC (or from 3G-PDSN) to 3G-802.16 type I integrator: 1. Add_Flow 2. Modify_Flow 3. Del_Flow 4. Resp_Add_Flow 5. Resp_Modify_Flow 6. Resp_Del_Flow Message header for this signaling protocol is shown in Figure 9. Protocol version = 0x01 Message types: forAdd_Flow = 0x01 for Modify_Flow = 0x02 for Del_Flow = 0x03 for Resp_Add_Flow = 0x04 for Resp_Modify_Flow = 0x05 for Resp_DeLFIow = 0x06 Message body consists of multiple fields in the TSLV format (i.e. fields containing Type, Subtype, Length and Value (sub)fields. Add_Flow message contains fields for the following information for each flow which is established in the IEEE802.16 or 3G network: 1. Afield indicating whether flow was created in 3G network or IEEE802.16 network, 2. A unique message identifier so that response of a command can be matched with its original command, 3. An indicator saying whether it is a forward link flow (from a source such as a multimedia server to a mobile user) or a reverse link flow (from a mobile user to a correspondent node which could be another mobile user or multimedia server ). 4. Source IP address (an address associated with mobile IP if mobile IP is used), 5. Destination IP address (an address associated with mobile IP if mobile IP is used), 6. Layer 4 protocol used (TCP, UDP, ....), 7. Layer 4 source port number, 8. Layer 4 destination port number, 9. Traffic profile (burstiness, peak rate, long-term average rate), 10. Quality of service class (delay and jitter sensitive class for real-time applications, average delay class for TCP-like applications, throughput only class for applications with throughput requirement and best effort class for applications with no quality of service requirements), 11. Quality of service requirements for IP packets (in terms of delay bound, delay jitter, average delay, throughput, packet error rate, as applicable), Once a mobile device in an IEEE802.16 network registers with access point and access controller of the 802.16 network (802.16-AP and 80216-AC), it also registers with the 3G-PDSN. To do this it essentially sends the Add_Flow request. The 3G-PDSN acts as foreign agent for this mobile device also and assigns a care-of-address (which is needed for mobile IP operation). 3G-PDSN sends a Resp_Add_Flow message and indicates success or failure of the associated Add_Flow operation. If successful, it also conveys a care-of-address to 80216-AC which further delivers to the corresponding mobile device. If a flow modifies its parameters in a network, the modified parameters are forwarded to other network via the Modify_Flow message. In this system, 3G-PDSN assigns care-of IP address for mobile devices in 3G networks and also for those mobile devices in IEEE802.16 networks which are eligible to use 3G network as well as IEEE802.16 network (as per their service level agreements with network operators). Data for a mobile device in an IEEE802.16 network is sent from CN to this care-of address (i.e. 3G-PDSN) which further tunnels it to the access controller of the 802.16 network (to 80216-AC network in Figure 9) Once a mobile device moves from IEEE802.16 network to 3G network, it is treated as PCF to PCF handover by the 30 network. The 3G-802.16 Type I integrator acts like a PCF node for 30 network in this system. 3G-IEEE802.16 System II In this system, IEEE802.16 network acts as a backhaul for 30 network, as shown in Figure 11. A 802.16 mobile station is co-located with the 3G-PDSN. A new interface, J1, as shown in Figure 11, is defined to communicate relevant information between 30-PDSN and 802.16 mobile station which is co-located at the 3G-PDSN. A mobile station in 30 network establishes a session in 30 (CDMA2000 IxEV) network using the process defined in 3GPP2 standards (www.3gpp2.org) . Relevant information for each 30 mobile station and 30 flow is conveyed to 802.16 mobile station which is co-located at the 30-PDSN. The 802.16 mobile station which is co-located at the 30-PDSN establishes a session in 802.16 network using the process defined for establishing a session (or connection) in an IEEE802.16 network. Access controller of IEEE802.16 network, 802.16-AC, assigns care-of address to be used for mobile-IP operation for 802.16 as well as 30 mobile stations. Each 30 mobile station is associated with 3G-PDSN which in turn is associated with an 802.16 mobile station. 3G-IEEE802.16 System III This is shown in Figure 12. PPP connection of the 30 network is terminated at the 30-BSC. 30-802.16 Type III integrator is used to convey state information for each flow of one type of network to another type of network. This integrator communicates directly with 3G-BSC and doesn't have to go via 30-PDSN. For 802.16 network, this integrator communicates with access controller of the 802.16 network (802.16-AC) The above-presented description is of the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention. The manner and process of making and using it is in such a full, clear, concise and exact terms as to enable to any person skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use this invention. New embodiments in particular, which also lie within the scope of the invention can be created, in which different details of the different examples can in a purposeful way be combined with one another. This invention is however, susceptible to modifications and alternate constructions from that disclosed above which are fully equivalent. Consequently, it is not the intention to limit this invention to the particular embodiment disclosed. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications and alternate constructions coming within the spirit and scope of the invention as generally expressed by the following claims which particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter of the invention. GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND THEIR DEFINITIONS 3G: Third Generation wireless networks. These networks are to provide next generation mobile services with better quality of service and high speed Internet and multimedia services. These include networks such as CDMA2000 1xEV-D0, CDMA2000 1xEV-DV, WCDMA. BTS: Base Transceiver System. The air interface in 3G wireless networks terminates at the BTS and the mobile station. BSC: Base Station Controller CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access. It is a spread-spectrum technology allowing many users to occupy the same time and frequency allocations in a given band/space. It assigns unique codes to each communication to differentiate it from others in the same spectrum. CDMA2000 1xEV: This includes CDMA2000 1xEV-D0 and CDMA2000 1xEV-DV. CDMA2000 1xEV-D0: CDMA2000 Single Carrier Evolution. Data Optimized. It delivers peak data rates of 2.4 Mbps and is intended to provide high performance and low cost packet data services. CDMA2000 1xEV-DV: CDMA2000, Single Carrier, Evolution, Data and Voice. It provides integrated voice and simultaneous high-speed packet data multimedia services. Correspondent Node (CN): It is a node with which the MS is communicating. For example, it could be a multimedia server or some other mobile station. Forward link flows: These flows are sending data packets from CN (or WER) towards the MS. FTP: File Transfer Protocol. A widely used protocol in the internet used to transfer files from one point to another point. HTTP; Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol. A protocol widely used for web browsing applications in the internet. IP: Internet Protocol. A layer 3 protocol widely used in the internet. LCP: Link Control Protocol. It is used to negotiate radio link protocol and options to control the session in CDMA2000 wireless networks. MPEG: Moving Picture Experts Group. There are several MPEG standards such as MPEG- 4, MPEG-2 etc. MS: Mobile Station NACK: Negative Acknowledgement. In contrast to positive acknowledgements, NACK is typically sent when a packet is not received within some expected time interval. QoS (Quality of Service): Applications have different types of requirements and these should be met by the networks. These include delay bound, delay jitter, required rate, packet loss, and average delay. Reverse link flows: These flows are sending data from the MS towards the CN (or WER). RLP: Radio Link Protocol. It is a modified form of the automatic repeat request (ARQ) protocol and used in 3G networks to improve reliability of the air-interface. RN: Radio network consisting of BSC and BTS. We use it interchangeably with BS (base station). RSVP: Resource Reservation Protocol. It is a QoS signaling protocol specified in the RFC2205 and available at www.ietf.org RTSP: Real Time Streaming Protocol. This is used to establish session for streaming applications in internet. SCP: Stream Control Protocol. This is used for sending RLP negative acknowledgements in CDMA2000 networks when missing RLP data is detected. SIP: Session Initiation Protocol. This session level protocol is used to establish sessions for streaming/conferencing applications in internet. TCP: Transport Control Protocol: A layer 4 protocol widely used in the internet. VoIP: Voice over IP WCDMA: Wideband Code Division Multiple Access WER: Wireless Edge Router References: 1. Mukesh Taneja, Efficient IP Networking System and Methods for 3G Wireless Multimedia Networks, Patent Application number; 886/CHE/2003 2. www.3gpp2.org WE CLAIM: 1. A system for integrating 3G and IEEE802.16 wireless networks wherein the said system comprise a 3G-802.16 integrator, a mobile user in an IEEEB02.16 network which establishes a session for an application and its corresponding flows as per the setup procedures. 2. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein for 3G-PDSN, the sessions appear as 3G sessions and a PPP session per mobile user is established between 3G-802.16 integrator and 3G-PDSN. 3. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein 802.16-AC keeps state information for each flow which exists in its associated IEEE802.16 networks where upon session establishment or modification or deletion of a flow, the said information is conveyed to the 3G-802.16 integrator. 4. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the mobile station in IEEE802.16 network registers with the access point and access controller of the 802.16 networks and if mobile station is capability to access 3G network, the registration request is forwarded to 3G-802.16 using a signaling protocol and the said registration message is conveyed to the 3G-PDSN. 5. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein a mobile station in a 3G network registers with the 3G-PDSN and if the mobile station has capability to access IEEE802.16 network its registration request is forwarded to 3G-802.16 integrator which conveys this information to 802.16-AC. 6. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein signaling between 802.16-AC and 3G-802.16 integrator involves conveying the state information for each flow in the IEEE802.16 network to the 3G-802.16 integrator and conveying the state information for each flow in the 3G network to the 802.16 network integrator. 7. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein to convey the state information for each work flow , a TCP connection Is created between 802.16-AC and 3G-802.16 integrator and the said TCP connection manages state information for all the 802.16 flows which terminate at the corresponding 802.16-AC. 8. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein signaling messages Add__Flow, Modify_Flow, Del_Flow, Resp_Add_Flow, Resp_Modify_Flow, Resp_Del_Flow, are used to convey state information from 802.16-AC or from 3G-PDSN to 3G-802.16 integrator: 9. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the message body consists of multiple fields in the TSLV format which are fields containing Type, Subtype, Length and Value fields. 10. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein Add__Flow message contains fields for the information for each flow which is established in the IEEE802.16 or3G network such as: a field indicating whether flow is created in 3G network or IEEE802.16 network; a unique message identifier so that response of a command is matched with its original command; an indicator saying whether it is a forward link flow or a reverse link flow ; a source IP address which is an address associated with mobile IP if mobile IP is used; a destination IP address which is an address associated with mobile IP if mobile IP is used; a Layer 4 protocol; a Layer 4 source port number; a Layer 4 destination port number; a traffic profile ; a Quality of service class ; and a Quality of service requirements for IP packets . 11. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein once a mobile device in an IEEE802.16 network registers with access point and access controller of the 802.16 network it gets registered with the 3G-PDSN by sending the Add_Flow request. 12. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the 3G-PDSN acts as foreign agent for the mobile device and assigns a care-of-address where the 3G-PDSN sends a Resp_Add_Flow message and indicates success or failure of the associated Add_Flow operation. 13. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein if the Add_Flow operation is successful, 3G-PDSN conveys a care-of-address to 80216-AC which delivers it to the corresponding mobile device. 14. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein if a flow modifies its parameters in a network, the modified parameters are fonA/arded to other network via the Modify_Flow message. 15. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the 3G-PDSN assigns care-of IP address for mobile devices in 3G networks and for the mobile devices in IEEE802.16 networks. 16. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein data for a mobile device in an IEEE802.16 network is sent from CN to the care-of address which tunnels it to the access controller of the 802.16 network. 17. A system as claimed in claim 1 wherein once a mobile device moves from IEEE802.16 network to 3G network, it is treated as PCF to PCF handover by the 3G network where the 3G-802.16 integrator acts like a PCF node for 3G network. 18. A system for integrating 3G and IEEE802.16 wireless networks wherein the IEEE802.16 network acts as a backhaul for 3G network comprising: a 802.16 mobile station which is co-located with the 3G-PDSN; and a new interface which is adapted to communicate relevant information between 3G- PDSN and 802.16 mobile station; where the said mobile station in 3G network establishes a session in 3G network using the process defined in 3GPP2. 19. A system as claimed in claim 18 wherein the information for each 3G mobile station and 3G flow is conveyed to 802.16 mobile station which is co-located at the 3G-PDSN and the 802.16 mobile station which is co-located at the 3G-PDSN establishes a session in 802.16 network using the process defined for establishing a session in an IEEE802.16 network. 20. A system as claimed in claim 18 wherein Access controller of IEEE802.16 network, assigns care-of address to be used for mobile-IP operation for 802.16 and 3G mobile stations where each 3G mobile station is associated with 3G-PDSN which is associated with an 802.16 mobile station. 21. A system for integrating 3G and IEEE802.16 wireless networks wherein the said system comprising: a 3G-802.16 integrator which is used to convey state information for each flow of one type of network to another type of network where the integrator communicates directly with 3G-BSC and communicates with access controller of the 802.16 network. 22. A system as claimed in claim 21 wherein the PPP connection of the 3G network is terminated at the 3G-BSC. 23. A method for integrating 3G and IEEE802.16 wireless networks utilizing the said system as claimed in claim 1 to 22. 24. A system for integrating 3G and IEEE802.16 wireless networks substantially as herein described particularly with reference to the drawings. 25. A method for integrating 3G and IEEE802.16 wireless networks substantially as herein described particularly with reference to the drawings.

Documents:

482-che-2004-abstract.pdf

482-che-2004-claims.pdf

482-che-2004-correspondnece-others.pdf

482-che-2004-correspondnece-po.pdf

482-che-2004-description(complete).pdf

482-che-2004-description(provisional).pdf

482-che-2004-drawings.pdf

482-che-2004-form 1.pdf

482-che-2004-form 5.pdf

482-che-2004-form 9.pdf