Space/Terrestrial Mobile Networks

The book presents the design of a Global Mobile Broadband System (GMBS) based on the results of the IST Project SUITED. The book could, therefore, be viewed as a Case Study, in which many of the latest concepts in mobility solutions, network design techniques and Internet technologies are presented. It provides a coherent and original contribution to the understanding of the evolution of space/terrestrial mobile networks to a heterogeneous environment in which the Internet will play a major role. The SUITED project has generated a considerable amount of interest due to the timeliness and quality of its work. The SUITED project has addressed a number of technical issues that are very much state-of-the-art. The presentation of such material in the form of a design of a real network provides a unique and very relevant body of material. There is no book available that addresses to any level of detail, the important topic of heterogeneous networks and the underlying technologies that make this concept possible. * Addresses the important topic of heterogeneous networks and the underlying technologies * Describes how to design an integrated satellite/terrestrial infrastructure where all the network components are fully merged together and integrated with the Internet Core network * Presents the service scenarios and system requirements of the Global Mobile Broadband System (GMBS) * Discusses the necessary QoS support and defines the original admission control scheme Gauge & Gate Realistic Internet Protocol (GRIP) * Covers mobility management including Mobile-IP support and a QoS Support Module (QASM) * Derives the functional and network architectures and presents the complete signalling protocols for mobility management in GMBS * Presents the design of signalling protocols and their implementation using SDL