Wireless Internet - Networking aspect

It is envisioned that wireless and the Internet will merge in the foreseeable future. The challenge, and the race, is on to offer an Internet Protocol (IP) based, wide area, high speed, mobile, wireless packet data connectivity. Currently, cellular industry is preparing for the third generation wireless technologies and architectures to support wireless access to the Internet. In terms of networking and mobility management, two approaches have been considered. EGPRS and WCDMA network uses cellular-like protocols for mobility management whereas cdma2000 employs Mobile Internetworking Protocol (Mobile IF) originally designed for mobility management within wireless local area network for wide area mobility management. This chapter provides overview of these two approaches, presents a generic design for wireless LP network and identifies challenges and future directions for wireless IP services.