University Of Buner

Computer Science Department

A Research Proposal on

Wireless Local Area Networks Integration

for Mobile Network Operators

Proposed by:

My Name

Computer Science Department

University Name
E-mail:

Fub 2019
 Abstract
With the advent of wireless local area networks (WLAN), service providers of third
generation (3G) wireless data networks can properly address traffic requirements in
hotspot locations. However, an important aspect to consider is the issue of integrating
WLANs with 3G wireless data networks leading to hybrid mobile data networks.
Such hybrid networks allow subscribers to experience seamless and ubiquitous data
services and very high data rates. In this project, we address the problem of the
integration of these two classes of networks to offer such seamless connectivity.
Specifically, we describe possible architectures and integration solutions relevant to
existing and future Pakistan Telecommunication authority (PTA) wireless networks.
Moreover, we present a typical deployment scenario of a WLAN into an STC wireless
network by specifying required network elements and providing the corresponding
commercially available products.

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Table of Contents

Abstract iii
Table of Contents iv
1 Background and Problem Statement 5
2 Literature Survey 7
2.1 Business Need 7

2.2 Existing Architectures and Solutions 7

2.3 Unsolved Issues 11

2.3.1 The availability of frequency bandwidth 11

2.3.2 Billing 11

2.3.3 Roaming 13

3 Project Plan and Tasks 13

3.1 Phase I (4 months) – Literature Survey: 13

3.2 Phase II (6 months) - Analysis and Evaluation: 13

3.3 Phase III (4 months) – Case Study: 13

3.4 Phase IV (4 months) – Project Documentation: 14

4 Summary of Deliverables 14
5 Project Management 14
6 Budget Requirements: 15
6.1 Manpower: 15

6.2 Equipment: 15

3
References 16
Acronyms 18

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1 Background and Problem Statement
The third generation (3G) wireless data networks are designed to offer both traditional
voice communications and packet data services for multimedia applications with
better performance and greater cost effectiveness. The Universal Mobile
Telecommunications Systems (UMTS) is one of the standardized systems for 3G
wireless data networks that is considered by this project. A brief description of the
UMTS-based networks is provided in section ​2.2.

Multimedia users are known to exhibit asymmetric bandwidth usage behavior, where
the download bandwidth (i.e. from the network to the user) is usually two to three
orders of magnitude higher than the upload bandwidth (i.e. from the user to the
network). Furthermore, in a typical 3G wireless data network, there will remain some
geographical areas within the cell coverage where mobile stations require more usage
of high-speed data services. Such geographical areas are referred to as hotspots.
Temporary or permanent hotspot areas are created in heavily populated places such as
airports, coffee shops, hotels, exhibitions, and convention centers. Microcell, picocell,
and repeater solutions have been proposed, and the performance of such solutions has
been evaluated ​[15]​[16]​[17]. However, such solutions are expensive, from cost
perspective and/or installations perspective.

With the availability of WLANs, service providers of 3G wireless data networks can
properly address traffic requirements in hotspot locations with a less costly solution.
The IEEE 802.11 defines the standard for WLANs. Based on the standard, the WLAN
operates in either ad-hoc mode or infrastructure mode. The infrastructure mode is
relevant to the integration with wireless networks. In infrastructure mode, an Access
Point (AP) coordinates the transmission among nodes within its radio coverage area,
called service set. A Mobile Node (MN) can only associate with one AP at a time. All
the MNs associated with an AP communicate with each other either through the AP or
directly coordinated by the AP. A number of APs can be interconnected through an IP
routed network to form the WLAN IP network, as shown in Figure 1. An access
router (AR) in the figure connects one or more APs to the network. The APs provide
radio interface to the WLAN network, and exchange IP packets with the access
routers. The MN is connected with a single AR at any given point in time, which is
called the serving AR. The WLAN network is capable of routing IP packets to the
serving AR while the MNs move through some form of mobile routing.

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 Figure 1: IEEE 802.11 WLAN.

An important aspect to consider when using WLANs to address traffic requirements

in hotspot locations is the issue of integrating WLANs with 3G wireless data
networks leading to hybrid mobile data networks allowing subscribers to experience
seamless and ubiquitous data services and very high data rates. The integration aspect
of WLANs with 3G wireless data networks results in many technical challenges,
including seamless vertical handovers across WLAN and 3G radio technologies,
security, common authentication, unified accounting and billing, WLAN sharing
among several 3G wireless data networks, and consistent Quality of Service (QoS)
and service provisioning ​[6].

The integration of WLANs and 3G wireless data networks leads to six possible
integration scenarios ranging from the simplest form of integration, ​Common Billing
and Customer Care,​ that provides only a common bill and customer care to the
subscriber but otherwise features no real interworking between the WLAN and the 3G
wireless data network, to the most complex form of integration, ​Access to 3G
Circuit-Switched-Based Services with Seamless Mobility,​ that allows access to 3G
circuit-switched services from the WLAN system, and seamless mobility to such
services ​[6]. Note that there exist many solutions for generic scenarios. The purpose
of this project is to examine these solutions in greater depth and attempt to provide a
solution that matches the current network configuration for Pakistan Telecom
Company (STC). The arrived at solution can be a novel one, a tailored solution, or a
combination of existing ones where the particulars of the local environment and
network are reflected. Moreover, we present a typical deployment scenario of a
WLAN into an STC wireless network by specifying required network elements and

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providing the corresponding commercially available products. This work will help
current operators launch new services and facilitate network expansion.

2 Literature Survey
2.1 Business Need
From a business point of view a 3G operator must ask the following question: Is
WLAN a competing technology to 3G technology or a complementing technology?
Welling et. al. ​[1] showed that the economic profitability of WLAN as a
complementary, rather than a competing solution for 3G wireless data network
operators, and that the combined infrastructure will provide the required seamless
mobile data services. Furthermore, analysts are predicting 20 million users of WLANs
in Europe by 2006 with access to the network achieved by users being in hotspots
​[18].

2.2 Existing Architectures and Solutions

The Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS) is one of the
standardized systems for 3G mobile systems. This solution is considered the natural
evolution path for GSM/GPRS-based networks similar to the one currently employed
to provide mobile services by the STC. The basic architecture model of a
UMTS-based network ​[19] is depicted in Figure 2. The model consists of two basic
components: The UMTS core network (UCN), and the UMTS terrestrial radio access
network (UTRAN). The UCN is the circuit-switched network responsible for
providing voice and circuit-switched services, in addition to the packet-switched
network responsible for providing packet-based services. Functionally, the circuit
switched domain consists of the mobile switching centre (MSC) responsible for
routing voice calls and the gateway MSC (GMSC) for interfacing with other public
switched telephony or ISDN networks. In contrast, the packet-switched domain is
comprised of the serving GPRS support node (SGSN), the gateway GPRS support
node (GGSN), and other functional entities responsible for routing, maintaining, and
billing specifics of the data services such as Domain Name Servers (DNS) and
Dynamic-Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) servers and firewall platforms. The
later functionalities are essential part of the 3G network to provide connectivity to the
Internet and support packet-based data services over the wireless mobile network.
Finally, the UTRAN component provides the wireless access to the services provided
by the UMTS network and consists of a collection of radio network controllers
(RNC), and base stations, referred to as Node B. Node B is the network entity
providing the immediate wireless access for mobile subscribers, while the RNC
assumes the management and control tasks within the UTRAN segment as well as the
interface with the rest of the UMTS network.

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 Figure 2: Simplified UMTS network architecture.

Figure 3: Tight coupling solution for WLAN integration into UMTS.

At the heart of the packet-switched core network for UMTS, the 3G-SGSN plays a
key role in providing data services. The 3G-SGSN entity provides the necessary
control functions for the user equipment (UE) as well as for the gateway 3G-GGSN.
Furthermore, it performs the required signaling and data interface for IP-data calls
routed through the 3G-GGSN and the required signaling (Signaling System 7 or SS7
protocol) with entities such as home location registry (HLR), equipment identification
register (EIR), and authentication center (AUC). The later signaling is essential for
tracking the location of mobile data terminals and performing other key functions
such as security, access control, and billing. Therefore, the 3G-SGSN entity plays a
fundamental role in the integration process between UMTS and wireless LAN
networks.

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The UMTS network defines multiple radio access technologies. The UTRAN
interface mentioned earlier is one of these technologies. Another interface is the GSM
EDGE radio access network (GERAN). In the same manner, a third interface
supporting WLANs can be defined. The Iu interface, currently being used between the
3G-SGSN and the RNC can be modified and standardized to provide the connectivity
between the UMTS core network (3G SGSN) and the WLAN through its radio
controller, the InterWorking Unit (IWU). This solution is referred to as the tightly
coupling strategy and is depicted in Figure 3. Tight coupling solution provides
seamless handoffs between the two networks and allows the wireless LAN component
to exploit all the pre-defined mobility, security and QoS functions defined at the
UMTS core network. However, this requires the standardization of the new interface
and the adaptation of data terminals (such as laptops and handheld devices) to use an
embedded subscriber identity module (SIM) card in a manner similar to existing
mobile phones. This task has already been launched by the European
Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in a project that will provide
standardized integration for the HiperLAN2 network, a European competing
technology for the existing IEEE802.11-based WLANs.

An alternative solution to tight coupling is what is known as the loose coupling

solution which requires less standardization effort compared to the former solution.
According to this strategy the WLANs requires connectivity to the HLR entity in the
UMTS core network through its Authentication, Authorization and Accounting
(AAA) entity. The HLR stores the current subscribers’ locations and maintains the list
of services allowed for each of these subscribers. Figure 4 shows a simplified loose
coupling scenario. The customer care and billing services (CC&BS) with loose
coupling, as it is with tight coupling, is still centralized and transparent to WLANs
mobiles. However, unlike tight coupling, this alternative does not require specific
network access equipment.

Finally, the last category of solutions is referred to as the open coupling alternative
where no standardization is required and the linkage between the WLAN and the
UMTS network is performed only at the customer care and billing system. This
solution is depicted in Figure 5. In this solution, the AAA server sends information
related to the subscriber usage of the WLAN to the mobile network CC&BS. It is
apparent that the WLAN in this situation is not employing the UMTS security or QoS
mechanisms. However, this solution requires the least dedicated infrastructure and can
utilize standard commercial products. Therefore, in terms of deployment and network
setup, this solution surpasses the other two strategies.

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 Figure 4: Loose coupling solution for integration of WLAN into UMTS.

Figure 5: Open coupling solution for integration of WLAN into UMTS.

The above three coupling scenarios represent the three main generic categories for a
wide range of integration solutions. For example, reference ​[14] presents an
integration solution based on loose coupling where a specific network entity called
therein Integration of Two Access Technologies (IOTA) is introduced to perform the
mobility, authentication, and accounting functions required for the integration
process. The author in reference ​[13] proposes a tight coupling-based architecture

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that supports simultaneous (voice and data) services where the packet-switched data
connection is carried over the WLAN part of the network, while the circuit-switch
voice call is served using the UMTS infrastructure. The new model allows
inter-system handover for subscribers without jeopardizing existing connections. As a
third example, references ​[6] ​[7] propose two open coupling architectures capable of
providing interworking between 3G and WLANs. The first architecture enables 3G
subscribers to roam into a wireless LAN and still receive service, while the second
one allows extends the first model to allow 3G packet switched services for WLAN
users. The later model will allow 3G users to benefit from the high-speed service rates
offered by WLANs in strategic hotspots (e.g. airports, hotels, etc.) and maintain
access to the same packet switched service supported by the mobile network.

2.3 Unsolved Issues

ًWhile generic solutions exist as has been demonstrated in the previous section, these
however provide only the general guideline for integration process. There remain a
number of unanswered questions and issues related to the integration process. These
include the availability of bandwidth and the licensing public data network operation,
the billing and accounting infrastructure, and the roaming functionality. In addition,
other issues like network security and management, and the availability and support
of applications should be addressed before a full integration solution is specified. In
the next three subsections, the issues of radio frequency bandwidth, billing, and roam
are highlighted and example solutions are presented for these issues.

2.3.1 The availability of frequency bandwidth

Spread spectrum transmission technology is used by many wireless LAN

manufacturers. The frequency at which signals are transmitted is called the Industrial,
Scientific and Medical (ISM) band. This frequency band is reserved for ISM devices.
The ISM band has three frequency ranges: 902-928, 2400-2483.5 and 5725-5850
MHz. An exception to this is Motorola's ALTAIR which operates at 18 GHz. IEEE
802.11g operates on 2.4 GHz and IEEE 802.11i operates at both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.
We will focus on these two techniques in our study depending on the wireless
frequencies used by other applications.

2.3.2 Billing

UMTS is build is on top of the 3​rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

Because of this fact, we will discuss 3GPP in this section. The 3GPP-WLAN
interworking system is aiming to provide chargeable public WLAN services for
mobile operator subscribers. After authentication and verification for network
access, the WLAN access network grants the UE an access to an IP network.
Each IP network is given a unique WLAN Access Point Name (W-APN), which is
used by the UE to establish the connection to the required destination network. The
UE chooses the IP network with a W-APN. After receiving a request from a
UE, the network verifies and authenticates that the user right to use the
W-PAN. Once the IP network is selected using the W-APN, tunnels are set up
to route the user data to the chosen IP network. The tunnel will be terminated

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in the home network by Packet Data Gateway (PDG); this is agreed upon in
the 3GPP literature. The PDG works in a similar fashion of the GGSN used in
GPRS packets network and the reference point W​i in Figure 6 is analogues to
the reference point G​i in GPRS. PDG acts as a gateway to the chosen remote
IP network, after terminating the tunnel. One suggested solution is to collect
charging information at the WLAN network and forward it to the 3GPP home
and/or visited networks ​[20]. The home network of 3GPP AAA server
authorizes each user’s access to the WLAN. 3GPP subscribers have two
ways of payment, prepaid and postpaid. For prepaid users, before authoring
an access to the WLAN, the 3GPP AAA server have to make a credit
reservation from the user prepaid account in the Online Charging System
(OCS) over W​o reference point ​[20]. Account information is gathered and
forwarded by 3GPP AAA as WLAN access call detail records (WLAN CDRs)
toward the Charging Gateway (CG) over W​f reference point. In the billing
system, this information is used to complete the charging process between
the responsible devices and create the bills for the postpaid users. For
prepaid users, the 3GPP AAA server monitors the received accounting
information from the WLAN access network and returns any unused credit, if
any, back to OCS. This is an example of one implementation, billing the
WLAN is still a hot topic for research. There are more than 12 international
conferences addressing billing issues.

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 Figure 6: 3GPP-WLAN interworking architecture.

2.3.3 Roaming

Roaming is one of the key factors when identifying the success of any wireless
system. In the 3GPP–WLAN interworking system should provide the ability for a
3GPP subscriber to access the WLAN service while roaming between networks.
There should be a roaming agreement to identify the terms and conditions of the
wireless service provided to the subscribers ​[21]. Roaming agreements are used where
no company can offer complete national and international coverage. Subscriber’s user
equipment shall be able to select visited network when accessing the WLAN service.
Since 3GPP has agreed to support visited network selection for WLAN interworking,
so that users will be able to select the visited PLMN (VPLMN) when several roaming
routes are available via the ​W-APN, as mention above​.

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3 Project Plan and Tasks
The three investigators will carry out the project cooperatively with the possible help
of a research assistant. The project progress and development is divided into four
main phases spanning the 18 months. The project phases are as follows:

3.1 Phase I (4 months) – Literature Survey:

● Performing a comprehensive and elaborate literature review: This step
involves the gathering and reading of up to date literature and resources in the
field. The team should focus on cutting-edge network technologies and up to
date literature that is directly applicable to the problems of interest. Grouping
and classification of solutions found in the literature will aid in the analysis
phase to follow.
● The team will also attempt to obtain literature in regard to evolution and
expansion plans of the Pakistan Telecom Company that are available for
public, if possible, or that of a typical GSM-based operator.

3.2 Phase II (6 months) - Analysis and Evaluation:

● Identification of most promising solutions using criteria that include but not
limited to: backward compatibility, smooth network evolution, most feasible
in terms of investment, greater return, etc.
● Potential candidate architecture and network evolution paths shall be analyzed
and evaluated in terms of their relevance to the current network infrastructure
and the expected usage patterns.
● Formulation of one of few winner solutions that may be based on existing
generic solutions or be original and novel.

3.3 Phase III (4 months) – Case Study:

● Using the analysis and results obtained in phase II, the team will assume a
hypothetical scenario where the mobile operator in Saudi Arabia (e.g. STC) is
planning to launch WLAN services in King Khalid Airport at Riyadh or any
potential candidate facility. The task is to provide a comprehensive plan for
introducing such service including all architectural changes and new network
entities needed. The team will also attempt to evaluate impact and ways to
minimize this impact of this expansion on current mobile network.

3.4 Phase IV (4 months) – Project Documentation:

● This task involves providing a detailed document with the following major
sections: Comprehensive literature review of types of architectures found and
their analysis, a list of potential solutions for GSM-based mobile network
operators and a winner solution description and analysis for implementation at
STC. The report will include a case study analysis for a typical integration
scenario and the required infrastructure.

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 4 Summary of Deliverables
1. Numerate architectures/solutions relevant to existing or future STC mobile
network infrastructure.

2. Propose UMTS compliant network infrastructure that is both backward

compatible with existing infrastructure and incorporates WLANs data
services.

3. Provide a typical deployment scenario in support of required functionality by

specifying required network elements and possibly the corresponding
commercial available product.

5 Project Management

Investigator RA Time Schedule (Months) Cumulative

s Months
Phases
AM MA TS RA 1 4 5 7 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 18 AM MA TS RA

Phase I X X X 2 2 2 0

Phase II X X X 8 8 8 0

Phase II X 8 8 8 4

Phase III X X X 12 12 12 4

Phase III X 12 12 12 7

Phase IV X 12 12 12 9

Phase IV X X X 14 14 14 9

Legend​ AM Dr.Ashraf S. H. Mahmoud

MA Dr. Marwan H. Abu Amara
TS Dr.Tarek Sheltami
RA Research Assistant

6 Budget Requirements:
6.1 Manpower:
1. Principle Investigator (PI): 1,200 ​X​ 14 = 16,800 SR

2. Co-Investigators II (CO-I): 2​ X​ 1,000 ​X​ 14 = 28,000 SR

3. Research Assistant: 600 ​X​ 9 = 5,400 SR

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Total Manpower: 50,200 SR

6.2 Equipment:
1. Two high end computer + printer: 18,500 SR

2. Miscellaneous and Stationery: 4,000 SR

3. Books and References: 2,500 SR

4. Publication: 4,400 SR

Total Equipment: 25,000 SR

Total budget for project: 75,200 SR

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References
[1] Ilari Welling, Jarmo Harno, François Loizillon, Kjell Stordahl, Dimitris
Varoutas, “Techno-Economic Evaluation of 3G & WLAN Business Case
Feasibility Under Varying Conditions,” 10th International Conference on
Telecommunications (ICT), 2003, Vol. 1, pp. 33-38.

[2] Embedded-Wi-Fi Market Undergoes shift,

http://www.frontlinetoday.com/frontline/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=120364

[3] Wireless LAN Hardware Market Up 11% to $658M in 3Q03,

http://www.80211bnews.com/publications/page207-654438.asp

[4] Sung-Eun Kim, and John A. Copeland, “Interworking Between WLANs and
3G Networks: TCP Challenges,” IEEE Wireless Communications and
Networking Conference (WCNC), 2004, Vol. 2, pp. 1252-1257.

[5] J. Ala-Laurila, J. Mikkonen, J. Rinnemaa, “Wireless LAN Access Network

Architecture for Mobile Operators,” IEEE Communications Magazine, Vol. 39,
Nov. 2001, pp. 82-89.

[6] Apostolis K. Salkintzis, “Interworking Techniques And Architectures For

WLAN/3G Integration Toward 4G Mobile Data Networks,” IEEE Wireless
Communications, June 2004, pp. 50-61.

[7] Apostolis K. Salkintzis, “WLAN/3G Interworking Architectures for Next

Generation Hybrid Data Networks,” IEEE International Conference on
Communications, 2004, Vol. 7, pp. 3984-3988.

[8] Apostolis K. Salkintzis, “The EAP-GPRS Protocol for Tight Integration of

WLANs and 3G Cellular Networks,” IEEE 58th Vehicular Technology
Conference (VTC), Fall 2003, Vol. 3, pp. 1793-1797.

[9] Eero Wallenius, Timo Hämäläinen, Timo Nihtilä, Jyrki Joutsensalo, Kari
Luostarinen , “3G Interworking With WLAN QoS 802.11e,” IEEE 58th
Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC), Fall 2003, Vol. 3,pp. 1803-1806.

[10] Hongbo Liu; H. Bhaskaran, D. Raychaudhuri, S. Verma, “Capacity Analysis Of

a Cellular Data System With 3G/WLAN Interworking,” IEEE 58th Vehicular
Technology Conference (VTC), Fall 2003, Vol. 3, pp. 1817-1821.

[11] Wei Zhuang, Yung-Sze Gan, Kok-Jeng Loh, Kee-Chaing Chua, “Policy-Based
QoS-Management Architecture in an Integrated UMTS and WLAN
Environment,” IEEE Communications Magazine, Vol. 41, Nov. 2003,
pp.118-125.

[12] G.M. Koien, T. Haslestad, “Security Aspects of 3G-WLAN Interworking,”

IEEE Communications Magazine, Vol. 41, Nov. 2003, pp. 82-88.

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[13] Muhammad Jaseemuddin, “An Architecture for Integrating UMTS and 802.11
WLAN Networks,” Proceedings of the Eighth IEEE International Symposium
on Computers and Communication (ISCC’03), Vol. 2, pp. 716-723.

[14] M. Buddhikot, G. Chandranmenon, S. Han, Y.W. Lee, S. Miller, L. Salgarelli,

“Integration of 802.11 and third-generation wireless data networks,” INFOCOM
2003. . IEEE Twenty-Second Annual Joint Conference of the IEEE Computer
and Communications Societies, Vol. 1, pp. 503-512.

[15] S. A. Ghorashi, L. Wang, F. Said, A. H. Aghvami, “Non-Real Time Packet

Transmission For A Microcell (Hotspot) Embedded In CDMA Macrocell
Systems,” IEEE International Conference on Communications, 2003. ICC '03,
Vol. 2 , pp. 997-1001

[16] H. Andersson, R. S. Karlsson, P. Larsson, P. Wikström “Improving System

Performance in a WCDMA FDD Network using Indoor Pico Base Stations,”,
IEEE 56th Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC), Fall 2002, Vol. 1, pp.
467-471.

[17] M. Rahman, P. Ernström​, “Repeaters for Hotspot Capacity in DS-CDMA

Networks,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Vol. 53, No. 3, May
2004, pp. 626-633. 

[18] m-Travel.com, “20 Million European Wireless LAN Users by 2006”,

http://www.m-travel.com/111.29.shtml , 24/06/03

[19] Vijay K. Garg, Oliver T.W. Yu, “Integrated QoS Support in 3G UMTS
Networks,” IEEE Wireless Communications, Sept 2000, pp. 1187-1192.

[20] Kalle Ahmavaara, Henry Haverinen, and Roman Pichna, “Interworking

Architecture Between 3GPP and WLAN Systems,”, IEEE Communication
Magazine, pp. 74-81, November 2003.

[21] Geir M. Køien and Thomas Haslestad, “Security Aspects of 3G-WLAN

Interworking,” IEEE Communication Magazine, pp. 82-88, November 2003

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Acronyms
3G 3​rd​ Generation
3G-SGSN 3​rd​ Generation - Serving GPRS Support Node
3G-GGSN 3​rd​ Generation - Gateway GPRS Support Node
3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
AAA Authentication, Authorization and Accounting
AP Access Point
AR Access Router
AUC Authentication Center
CC&BS Customer Care and Billing Services
CG Charging Gateway
DHCP Dynamic-Host Configuration Protocol
DNS Domain Name Server
EDGE Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution
EIR Equipment Identification Register
ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute
GERAN GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network
GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node
GMSC Gateway MSC
GPRS General Packet Radio Service
GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
HLR Home Location Register
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
IOTA Integration of Two Access Technologies
ISM Industrial, Scientific and Medical
IWU InterWorking Unit
MN Mobile Node
MSC Mobile Switching Center
OCS Online Charging System
PDG Packet Data Gateway
PLMN Public Land Mobile Network
QoS Quality of Service

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RNC Radio Network Controller
SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node
SIM Subscriber Identification Module
SS7 Signaling System 7
STC Pakistan Telecommunications Company
UCN UMTS Core Network
UE User Equipment
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
UTRAN UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
VLR Visitor Location Register
VPLMN Visited PLMN
W-APN WLAN Access Point Name
WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

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