Next generation communications and secure seamless handover

Abstract

The next generation communications system will constitute of a heterogeneous access network technologies under a common IP layer. This next generation is often called beyond third generation, B3G. The heterogeneity present in these networks leads to security challenges not present in homogeneous networks. Besides the security issues there is also the issue of providing fast handover such that the user does not perceive any change in service quality or in other words seamless handover. In this paper, we will first define B3G systems and present some of the issues related to it. Next, we will propose approaches to secure and seamless handover in a B3G system.