Practical considerations on end-to-end cellular/PWLAN architecture in support of bilateral roaming

[[abstract]]To offer a more efficient wireless data access service than 2G/2.5G/3G networks, public WLAN (PWLAN) stands a predominant position to embrace the wireless broadband era Reusing the existing mechanisms for user authentication, access control, billing and roaming handling procedures in mobile territory to construct a complementary network - PWLAN attracts cellular operators' attentions. In this article, we aim to investigate a practical end-to-end PWLAN architecture capable of using 2G/3G SIM-based authentication for current mobile users and carrying out Web-based authentication for ordinary users without SIM modules simultaneously. Additionally, we give consideration to confederate various Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) by RADIUS based roaming mechanism and leverage the existing cellular resource. The proposed considerations and guidelines provide a baseline skeleton for building an extendable and flexible cellular/PWLAN architecture.[[fileno]]2030218030010[[department]]資訊工程學