Contents Telektronikk Open Access Networks Volume 102 No. 3/4 – 2006 1 Guest Editorial; ISSN 0085-7130 Einar Edvardsen Editor: 3 Introduction to Open Access Networks; Per Hjalmar Lehne Einar Edvardsen (+47) 916 94 909 17 Open Access Networks – Regulatory Aspects; [email protected] Malin Tønseth, Øystein Hoel, Håkon Styri, Christian A. Nøkleby, Einar Meling, Editorial assistant: Runar Langnes Gunhild Luke 26 Section 2 – Conceptual System Description; (+47) 415 14 125 Einar Edvardsen [email protected] 27 Using UMA to Realize the OBAN Vision; Editorial office: John Charles Francis, Rico Schwendener Telenor R&I 33 The Open Access Network Architectural Paradigm Viewed Versus Peer Approaches; NO-1331 Fornebu Muslim Elkotob, Herbert Almus, Sahin Albayrak, Klaus Rebensburg Norway (+47) 810 77 000 48 Architecture for Sharing Residential Access with Roaming WLAN Users; [email protected] Frans Panken, Haakon Bryhni, Paal E. Engelstad, Leif Hansson, Gerard Hoekstra, www.telektronikk.com Martin Gilje Jaatun, Tor Hjalmar Johannessen Editorial board: 60 Section 3 – Service and Business Opportunities Berit Svendsen, VP Telenor Nordic Einar Edvardsen Ole P. Håkonsen, Professor NTNU 61 Services and Applications in Future Wireless Networks; Oddvar Hesjedal, VP Project Director Josef Noll Bjørn Løken, Director Telenor Nordic 72 Actors, Activities and Business Opportunities in Open Broadband Access Markets Graphic design: Today; Thor Gunnar Eskedal, Tor Hjalmar Johannessen Design Consult AS (Odd Andersen), Oslo 85 Business Scenarios for Open Broadband Radio Access; Layout and illustrations: Ragnar Andreassen, Thor Gunnar Eskedal, Rima Venturin Gunhild Luke and Åse Aardal, 94 Charging Models in the Open Broadband Access Market – Theory and Practice; Telenor R&I Andrea Amelio Prepress and printing: 99 Section 4 – Functionalities Rolf Ottesen Grafisk Produksjon, Oslo Einar Edvardsen Circulation: 100 The Main Benefits of Applying IEEE802.11e in Access Networks with Possible 3,700 Roaming Users; Paal E. Engelstad, Olav N. Østerbø 111 Security in Fast Handovers; Martin Gilje Jaatun, Inger Anne Tøndel, Tor Hjalmar Johannessen 125 Resource Allocation and Guarantees for Real-Time Applications in WLANs; Frans Panken, Gerhard Hoekstra, Sietse van der Gaast 135 An EAP-SIM Based Authentication Mechanism to Open Access Networks; Corrado Derenale, Simone Martini 145 Section 5 – Expected Capacity and Coverage Networks on networks Einar Edvardsen Connecting entities through networks – in technological, societal and personal terms – 146 A Brief Overview of Radio Technologies; enables telecommunication. Networks occur on Per Hjalmar Lehne different levels, form parts of larger networks, 159 Multi-Cell WLAN Coverage and Capacity; and exist in numerous varieties. The artist Odd Jan Erik Håkegård Andersen visualises the networks on networks by drawing interconnected lines with different 171 Traffic Capacity and Coverage in a WLAN-Based OBAN; widths. Curved connections disturb the order Terje Ormhaug, Per Hjalmar Lehne, Olav N. Østerbø and show that networks are not regular but are adapted to the communication needs. Per H. Lehne, Editor in Chief 195 Terms and Acronyms in Open Access Networks Guest Editorial EINAR EDVARDSEN The fixed broadband access network – the most powerful, fine-grained and inaccessible network there is. This is of course a “to-the-point” formulation, but sewing together fixed and mobile networks (FMC – there are components of truth in it – how? Fixed and Mobile Convergence). WLAN has become a popular technology and is now widely deployed in Einar Edvardsen The only spot on the earth from which a person can people’s homes and enterprise premises to intercon- is Senior Adviser access the network is over the line identified by his nect computer equipment. It gives people the freedom in Telenor R&I subscription with the service provider. As soon as he to locate PCs, servers and printers where they want moves outside the reach of his home/office network, them to be, not only where the cables terminate. he will be unable to obtain connection. To be able to Since radio waves to some degree penetrate walls establish a broadband session away from home, he and windows and do not see the borders between must sign up other agreements with service providers the private and public domains, they will also cover (scratch card, hotel, mobile, ...). In the role of a fixed public areas and enable people passing by to connect line subscriber it is impossible to connect anywhere provided that the necessary functionality is installed else than at home, because the subscription is limited in the network. WLAN may accordingly become a to communication over one particular line terminated medium and mean for providing public access to the at his premises. fixed broadband network in wide areas. Broadband will no longer be limited to applications at home/ The fixed broadband network is powerful in respect office, but will also be available to people when they of total capacity, access capacity and coverage. Every are walking in the street, sitting at a café, visiting household and business will soon be connected to a friends, visiting business relations, etc. common high capacity core network. The infrastruc- ture for these access networks builds predominantly However, inviting anybody to connect to private on the old telephone cables and the coaxial cable net- wireless networks and allowing them access to the works used for TV distribution. Other physical infra- Internet over the present subscribers’ access lines, is structures do also exist, but play minor roles. These controversial and feared by people. The basic access cable infrastructures are continuously being upgraded to Internet can very easily be realised. Leaving the to offer capacities up to 20 – 25 Mbits/sec per line WLAN unprotected – without using encryption, hid- dependent on the applied technology. When demand den SSID or MAC address filtering – anybody may for capacity exceeds the threshold of today’s net- use it and obtain access. Nothing needs to be done to work, optical cables will be installed and offer more realise this, except disabling all security mechanisms or less unlimited bandwidth. and offer them to public disposal. Many reasons make it impossible to follow such an approach in The mobile networks on the other hand are optimised viable commercial business models. to provide telecommunication services to travelling people. They aim at offering services to people wher- For the users, subscribers as well as visitors, privacy ever they are on the earth, but the drawback is that reasons may be one of them. Nor will subscribers be these networks do not provide the bandwidth the willing to ‘give away’ bandwidth they are paying for, users are used to at home/office over the fixed net- or at least: They want to be assured that they have the work. Though mobile networks go through a capacity bandwidth they pay for when they need it. From a upgrade similar to the fixed, these networks will commercial point of view it is important to identify never catch up with the latter networks’ performance, users, i.e. the operators need to know who the users unless more radio frequencies are released for such are in order to bill for communication. Also the soci- purposes. Compared to the fixed networks, the capac- ety has its interests in this image as information about ity of the mobile networks is only a fraction, but they usage often is requested in legal disputes. The 9-11 have a great advantage; they are accessible where syndrome has even made these aspects more impor- people are, not only at certain access points. tant. Secure identification of users and traffic records are demanded by the telecom regulator authorities to The appearance of cheap wireless technology used as comply with community interests. local area networks may become the catalytic force Telektronikk 3/4.2006 ISSN 0085-7130 © Telenor ASA 2006 1 In a few years most households will have broadband over WLAN is being offered by existing as well as and the majority will also use WLAN as home net- new operators on the market (FON, Boingo, LinSpot, works for interconnecting electronic devices. As the ...). From the mobile side the UMA standard defines number of WLANs increases they will form continu- how WLAN can be integrated in the mobile network. ous coverage indoors as well as outdoors, thus giving The section also contains an architectural overview the subscribers of the fixed network the opportunity of the OBAN approach to open access networks. to connect everywhere. An intuitive follow-up ques- tion might be whether such networks would perform In section three the commercial aspects of open access well enough to oust GSM/UMTS by providing better networks are covered. Implementation of open access and cheaper services than offered by the mobile net- is in fact a radical change of today’s fixed networks work. Would it be possible to develop the fixed net- towards a network supporting nomadic and mobile work to support mobile services as they are provided services. New business models will be required to by the mobile network? WLAN in stand-alone situa- enable this transition. The increased performance tions offers basically much more bandwidth than the of the fixed network will give a pulse to service mobile networks. Tens of Megabits per user are providers to develop new services and applications achievable under optimal conditions, but how do they that rely on new multi-function terminals that are perform in crowded situations? When WLANs over- able to connect to different networks. lap and interfere with each other? Or when the num- ber of users increases? The most popular WLAN Section four addresses the main properties that must products of today are based on the IEEE802.11b/g be present in an open access network. These proper- standard, which offers only three non-overlapping ties involve a range of security aspects in order to channels.