November 2002

WHITEPAPER

WLAN Cellular Interworking

HSS CONFIDENTIAL

w w w.hssworld.com
WLAN Cellular Interworking

 2002 Hughes Software Systems Ltd. All rights reserved.

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2
802.11 Wireles s Local Area Networks (WLANs or WiFi s ys tem s ) have given the cellular indus try good reas on to flag
an alert. After all, WLANs provide a com bo of bandwidth, flexibility and cos t that cellular s ervices jus t cannot m atch.
As a res ult WLAN s eem s to have becom e tom orrow's 'killer network', with us age taking off at an explos ive rate. This
docum ent by HSS addres s es is s ues of critical concern to top bus ines s and technology decis ion-makers in the cellular
world – to decis ion-m akers who wis h to convert this threat into an opportunity for their firm s .

Where exactly does WLAN fit into the m yriad of proven and nas cent telecom m unication technologies ? In which
directions are WLAN technologies and products evolving? Does m arket res earch validate the thes is that WLAN could
s ound the death knell for cellular? Or are WLAN and cellular des tined to coexis t and collaborate to deliver enhanced
value to end-us ers ? What does HSS offer as a proven s olution architecture for WLAN-Cellular interworking? How
does this s olution enable delivery of unified billing, s ecure authentication, roam ing, location-bas ed s ervices and
s eam les s handover between WLAN and Cellular? How does HSS’ s olution enable WLAN interworking to be migrated
acros s GSM, GPRS and UMTS networks ? What bus ines s cas e and bus ines s m odel does HSS propose to OEMs and
TSPs for adding this s olution to their product and s ervice offerings ? And finally, how can OEMs and TSPs work with
WLAN-Cellular interworking s olution providers s uch as HSS to realize this opportunity?

HSS’ ans wers thes e ques tions with a vis ion to accelerate the deploym ent of interworked WLAN-Cellular s olutions –
s olutions that will deliver ‘4G-like’ s ervices to the com m unication hots pots in a cellular world.

Introduction
What is an all-pervasive human need that gets satiated in a McDonalds in Tokyo or a Starbucks in New York? Food
and drink? Yes, there’s that too… For today, many people use a trip to McDonalds in Japan or Starbucks in the US to
fulfill their need to be in touch, to communicate, to learn and to explore the world. And they can do this using the
inexpensive Wireless LAN (WLAN or WiFi) networks that McDonalds and Starbucks have set up at their outlets. So
what if cellular was already there…

Why do market-savvy and street-smart firms a dd WLAN to their offerings? Obviously, there’s a fast buck to be made
by offering WLAN services. The bottom line here is that in the complex and heavyweight world of wireless
communication, WLAN is a new, refreshingly simple and nimble player that’s rewriting the rulebook. That’s because
WLAN is a ‘Do-it-Yourself Wireless’ that’s a 1000 times cheaper and 100 times faster than the multi -million dollar cell
sites wireless operators have set up.

So like-it-or-not, wireless equipment manufacturers and service providers have been forced to take a long, hard look
at this maverick technology. Neither can firms afford to miss the WLAN bus, nor do they know how to get fully on
board. Could WLAN’s pitfalls, i.e. security, roaming and billing, offer operators leverage for interworking?

Read further to understand about the Pandora’s box that WLAN has opened for cellular, and of the solutions
available to mobile operators to deal with the situation.

3
WLAN Cellular Interworking

WLAN vs. 3G Cellular: Rivalry vis-à-vis from this, WLAN operates in the unlicensed ISM
Synergy? (Instrumentation, Scientific and Medical) band at
2.4 GHz, which saves operators expensive
3G cellular was developed to solve two needs, license fees.
the first one to be always connected and the
To top it all, WLAN data is routed through the
second one to enable the use of applications
public Internet, which is much cheaper than
requiring high and flexible bandwidth. 3G
routing it through the private Intranet of the 3G-
provides bandwidths of upto 2 Mbps on demand,
core network. The low cost of WLAN is borne out
low data rates and free roaming across large
by the market’s pricing information. For example,
areas. On the other hand, WLAN provides a
a European WLAN service provider offers a time
higher bandwidth (11 Mbps) at a much cheaper
based charging scheme for WLAN of approx.
cost. The flip side of WLAN is that the range of
$0.25 per minute, which given the phenomenal
coverage provided is just 100 meters. This
data rates possible, is much cheaper than any of
makes many people argue that if WLAN
the subscription charges projected for 3G.
coverage were to become ubiquitous, 3G
services will not take off at all. We will try to
3. Simplicity
answer this argument from alternative
WLANs can be accessed from laptops and PDAs
perspectives.
by using inexpensive, relatively simple and stable
technology. Thus WLAN does not face the
Rivalry
technological maze and forever evolving
There are many aspects in which WLAN
standards that 3G faces.
threatens the take-off of 3G services. Some of
them are:
4. Presence
1. Bandwidth
WLAN is already a popular technology. On the
WLANs provide a data bandwidth of 11 Mbps vs.
other hand 3G is suffering from an array of
the bandwidth of 2 Mbps promised by 3G. For a
technical glitches and is likely to take some more
user living in a dense urban area (i.e. an area
years to get deployed. If WLAN presence
having a dense network of WLANs), a PDA and a
becomes widespread in this period, there may
2G phone can fulfill most of the needs that a 3G
not be much of a market left in which 3G can
phone can fulfill. Thus 3G will find it extremely
make its presence felt.
difficult to penetrate in the dense urban areas.

Synergy
2. Cost
1. Better Coverage
WLAN access networks can be established at a
Though WLAN provides higher bandwidth at a
fraction of cost of a 3G-access network. Apart
cheaper rate, it cannot provide the coverage

4
provided by cellular networks. Thus if a unified
WLAN / 3G Cellular access solution emerges, it
will enable the user to be ‘always best
connected’. When the user is near a WLAN,
he/she can enjoy the bandwidth provided by
it.When he/she is out of coverage from WLAN, 3G
network will provide continued access to the user.
2. Single Bill and Roaming
The complex billing/roaming technology of 3G
can be extended to WLANs as well. Thus users
can get their connections through WLAN or 3G,
through their service provider’s WLAN or a
competing service provider’s WLAN – and still
get a single bill for all these connections.
3. Creating A Market for 3G Services
According to one school of thought, as WLAN is
gaining popularity before 3G, WLAN will actually
create a market for 3G services. People will get
used to high data rate applications while using
WLAN. These WLAN users will in the future start
using the same applications on 3G networks,
taking advantage of their wider coverage. Thus,
from this perspective, WLAN will accelerate the
roll-out of 3G services.
Despite this positive effect on 3G services,
WLAN will definitely cannibalize part of the 3G
data service revenues – the estimates vary from
7% to 25%. As a result, the safest course of
action for mobile operators is to aggressively
enter the WLAN business. By focussing on the
synergy offered by WLAN to their current
business, mobile operators will be able to
minimize the disruption caused by WLAN to their
business. Thus mobile operators can effectively
hedge their risks between cellular and WLAN.
Current Scenario and Trends
Current Wireless Technologies
A large number of wireless technologies are
being developed at present, catering to different
needs of end users. These technologies can be
broadly classified into Wide Area Networks
(WAN), Local Area Networks (LAN) and Personal
Area Networks (PAN). The table below shows
this classification of wireless technologies:
WAN LAN PAN
GSM 802.11x Bluetooth
WAP HiperLAN UWB
GPRS UWB
3G
The main aim of PAN is to connect different
electronic devices used in close proximity in
homes and offices. Thus PAN may connect
printers, faxes, etc., wirelessly to computers or
PDAs. LANs aim to provide a platform for
communication while inside a building, campus,
etc. WLAN falls under this category. WAN
technologies such as GSM / GPRS / 3G etc.
provide ubiquitous coverage in large
geographical areas. Figure 1 compares the
range and the throughput of these technologies.
5
WLAN Cellular Interworking

Popularity of WLAN present. This uniform and simple standard has

WLAN has become the one major technological enabled the industry to reduce its development
st
phenomenon since the start of the 21 century. costs and quickly achieve economies of scale.
Quite simply, WLAN is a technology that enables This is the reason that WLAN solutions are priced
computers, laptops and other devices to form a so low.
LAN without any wires. The absence of any tie-
down infrastructure means that WLANs provide The possible threats to 802.11b include 802.11a
enhanced mobility and convenience to users at a (with a bandwidth of upto 54 Mbps), Hiperlan2
lower cost than wired LANs. Users’ devices have (which has been popular in Europe) and Ultra
antennae that connect them wirelessly to a local Wide Band (with a bandwidth of 500 Mbps and
Access Point (AP), and Access Points are in turn more). We believe that 802.11a will be the
connected to a local Internet gateway. natural successor to 80211.b because of the
present industry support and investments made
Teenagers, young adults and business users in the area of 802.11 technologies.
around the world are getting their communication
devices WLAN-enabled. WLAN is becoming
ubiquitous, having made its impact in places such
as corporate offices, college campuses, public
1
WLANs (Hotspots ) and homes. Because of the
huge popularity of WLAN, the WLAN service
revenues are expected to reach $7 billion by
2007.

The main reasons of the success of WLAN are:

1. Cost
The WLAN solution is very cost-effective. A small
WLAN can be set up almost anywhere simply by
getting an Internet connection and buying a
couple of Access Points for as low as $500. Then
user terminals such as laptops can be WLAN-
enabled by buying a WLAN card for as low as
$100.

2. Single Standard
802.11b is the de-facto WLAN standard at

1
Hotspots: Public places from where WLAN can be
accessed for a payment.

6
 when converted to pdf, 50 is in bold

vertical arrow is overlapping with Mbps

Fig 1: Range vs. Throughput Positioning of various Wireless Technologies

Cellular-WLAN Interworking Solutions

Cellular-WLAN interworking solutions primarily
target the public WLAN (hotspot) and enterprise
WLAN markets, and target users with
increasingly popular dual-mode (cellular and
WLAN) devices. There are different methods of
implementing such interworking solutions, and
we will have a closer look at those later. However
the basic concept of cellular-WLAN interworking
is to authenticate, account and bill users while
enabling them to roam freely across WLANs and
cellular networks. This is achieved by reusing the
same billing, authentication and roaming
mechanisms that are available in cellular
networks. Such solutions can also be interworked
with packet data based networks such as GPRS
and WCDMA in order to provide seamless
handover, e.g. a user’s device will continue to
work without loosing data while moving between
a 3G network and a WLAN network. Thus users
can get high Internet access rates from a WLAN
wherever available, while retaining connectivity
(albeit at a slower rate) as they move to a GRPS
or WCDMA network.
7
WLAN Cellular Interworking

Interworking Market: Key Findings of WLAN-

Cellular Market Study WLAN for various purposes like high-speed
secure access to their corporate database,
HSS carried out a study of the WLAN-cellular
teleconferencing with their colleagues/clients
interworking market with an aim of finding out
from a public place etc. This segment is expected
whether mobile operators should enter the WLAN
to be an early adopter of WLAN services. These
market, and to find out how they can differentiate
business users will also access WLANs from
their services from that of the competition.
their corporate offices, where the need is
basically for simpler in-office mobility and
The key findings of the study are given below:
guaranteed security. Business users will initially
access WLANs mainly through dual-mode
Market Size
laptops. They will also be amongst the first to
Analysys predicts the US public WLAN market
access WLANs through the sophisticated dual-
alone to generate $3 billion annual services
mode high bandwidth 2.5G/3G-WLAN devices
revenue by 2007. We expect the European and
that are due to make an appearance.
Asian markets each to generate about two-thirds
of this revenue. Thus by entering the WLAN
2. Teenagers/Young Adults
market, mobile operators will be chasing an
Teenagers and young adults are a major
opportunity of $7 billion revenues by 2007. This is 2
segment of technology adopters. The major
certainly an attractive market to enter.
consumer need here is to look and feel different
from the rest of the population. This segment is
Market Segments
already getting used to WLAN since many of
them have had access to it in their school
The WLAN market can be segmented based on
campuses. In fact, the rapid deployment of
various factors like: (i) the access device (Laptop,
WLANs was one of the major changes that took
PDA or cellular phone), (ii) the place of access
place in campuses across United States during
(home, office or public WLAN), etc. However we
2001-02, and this trend is expected to continue.
believe the best way to segment is based on the
These users are expected to use WLAN both at
end-user, since all other factors (access device,
home and in public hotspots. They will access
place of access, etc.) will be largely determined
WLANs mainly through their PDAs and laptops.
by this one factor. The most attractive segments
of end users that we have identified are:
Competitive Analysis
Mobile operators entering the WLAN space will
1. Business Users
face competition from Virtual Wireless Internet
These are the executives of corporate entities.
Service Providers (WISPs). A company that
This segment is less price sensitive as long as
does not own a WLAN network, but leases it from
their major requirements of hassle free service
an existing WISP is a virtual WISP, e.g. Boingo
and high-class security are met. They might need
Wireless. WISPs provide authentication and

2
Technology Adopters: People who first adopt a new
technology.

8
billing services using Internet-based AAA
authentication. Virtual WISPs will be able to
compete with mobile operators due to the low
capital investments they need to provide wide
coverage. The incentives for an existing WISP to
allocate network resources to a virtual WISP are
(1) increased capacity utilization and revenues
and (2) reduced marketing and customer
relationship management costs.
Virtual WISPs have been successful in the U.S.
because of their ability to expand fast. However,
in future they are unlikely to be able to provide
value-added services like Cellular-WLAN
roaming, etc., due to the high entry barriers in the
cellular services’ market. WISPs’ past successes
in the U.S. can be attributed to the preoccupation
of the U.S. mobile operators with the upgradation
of their outdated networks and their weak
financial conditions. Hence Virtual WISPs are not
likely to do as well in Europe and Japan, where
mobile technologies have kept upto date and
operators are in a better shape than their peers in
U.S.
Differentiation in Service Offerings
As a result, outside U.S. mobile operators are
expected to become the predominant WISPs,
providing value-added WLAN services to their
existing subscriber base. Within the U.S. it will
take longer for mobile operators to recover the
ground they have lost to WISPs.
We will now briefly discuss some of the value-
added services that only mobile operators can
provide in the WLAN space to their subscribers,
effectively differentiating themselves from pure
WISPs.
1. Extensive Roaming and Single Bill for all
Public WLANs and Cellular Networks
The key to differentiating the WLAN service
provided by mobile operators is to enable the
user to use the same dual-mode WLAN-Cellular
card for accessing all WLANs and Cellular
Networks – even those networks not belonging to
the service operator – while providing users with
a single bill and personalized services. Mobile
operators, whose extensive cellular roaming
agreements extend their presence into all
geographical markets where cellular / WLAN
services will be offered, are best poised to offer
this service. Standalone WISPs will take a long
time to reach roaming agreements among
themselves.
2. Better Security
Business users and ultimately public users of
commercial services will demand high-class
security at the air-interface level as well as at the
back-haul network level. Thus a safe WLAN
solution must be able to improve upon the
security currently provided by 802.11.
In WLAN solutions data is routed through the
public Internet, which is insecure and prone to
eavesdropping. The data of the users who have
VPN access can be routed through their VPN
making their communication totally secure.
9
WLAN Cellular Interworking
However, a safe WLAN solution has to go
beyond this and provide better security even to
those who don’t have VPN access. Mobile
operators are well positioned to provide a more
secure data service by routing the data of users
through their private n
I tranet. However such core
network routing solutions does not make the
WLAN air interface fully secure.
3. Handover between 2.5G/3G and WLAN
This service would be mainly targeted to laptop
users. These users’ laptops would be always
connected to the Internet as users move between
cellular coverage and WLAN coverage. WLANs
will provide higher data rates, and 2.5G/3G
networks will provide higher coverage. The key
enabler here is that users will have access to
both these networks through a single WLAN-
Cellular dual-mode card. Clearly, only mobile
operators will be able to provide this service
Value Delivered to the Mobile Operators
1. Increased Revenues at Less Cost
The cost of setting up a WLAN is a fraction of the
cost of providing 2.5G/3G coverage at that place.
Thus at a fraction of their rivals’ 2.5G/3G
investments, operators can increase their data
revenues substantially. Our conservative internal
study estimates that the payback period from a
successful WLAN service deployment will be
under 3-4 years.
2. Increased Use of 2.5G/3G Services
By providing dual-mode WLAN-2.5G/3G cards at
10
for free / at a token charge, mobile operators can
encourage their subscribers to access Internet
through the 2.5G/3G network when the WLAN is
not available. This is possible due to the low
capital investments required for and the
increased revenues resulting from WLAN
services. Thus WLAN can enable operators to
get better returns on from their 2.5G/3G
investments by increasing the usage of cellular
data services.
3. Edge over Competition
By providing WLAN services, mobile operators
can enhance the value and premium-branding of
the services that they offer to their current
subscribers and that they advertise to their rivals’
subscribers. This reduces the customer churn
and reduces the cost of customer acquisition. In
addition, as WLAN users will be the premium
users and early adopters, mobile operators can
effectively target the cream of their rivals
customer base.
4. Access to the Enterprise Segment
By offering top-of-the-line data rates, office-
home-travel solutions and improved secruity,
mobile operators can encourage corporates to
set up WLAN-Cellular interworked solutions in
their offices. This will enable the business users
to use the same dual-mode WLAN-cellular card
for information access at their office, for business
travel, and for work at home – with a single bill,
very fast data transfers and fewer security
concerns. This will provide a high-value
proposition to be gain entry to the premium
corporate segment, where the ARPU (Average
Revenue Per User) exceeds that of other
segments by a factor of three or more.
Obstacles for Future
The main obstacles for the growth of interworked
WLAN-Cellular services are likely to be the
following:
1. Security
The main commercial target of initial WLAN
services, i.e. business users, will not adopt it in a
big way until the security of the system is has
been made foolproof. The current security
provided on the air interface by the 802.11b
standard has proven to be fragile and needs
improvement. Several attempts have been made
to improve the security of the WLAN air interface,
but these have been repeatedly broken. This is in
contrast to the security provided in cellular
systems by use of asymmetric keys on the
terminal SIM card and network HLR (Home
Location Register), which is 100% secure on the
air interface.
2. Voice Capabilities
In future, with the advent and widespread usage
of the mobile ‘killer applications’ that will benefit
from the high bandwidth of WLANs, consumers
might also like to access WLANs through their
3G phones. This would make it necessary for
WLAN solutions to provide the seamless roaming
and voice capabilities that are provided by default
in cellular systems. Most of the cellular-WLAN
interworking solutions currently being developed
can be upgraded to provide seamless roaming,
but the introduction of voice capabilities will
depend on the success of VoIP technology. This
is as voice traffic through WLANs will be routed
through the Internet, as done in the VoIP
framework.
Thus the take-off and stabilization of VoIP is
another hurdle for the future development and
wider acceptance of WLAN by users of current-
day cellular systems.
Interworking Solution: HSS’ Solution
Architecture for Billing, Security and
Seamless Handover
Alternatives
Assuming a basic requirement of allowing
roaming from a GSM//GPRS/3G network into a
WLAN hotspot, a number of alternative
architectures are possible. The 3GPP (Third
Generation Partnership Program) is studying this
requirement (3GPP TR 22.934), and ETSI BRAN
also has this requirement as one of its objectives.
Figure 3 (on the next page) shows the alternative
architectures that have been considered.
Alternative 1: The WLAN access node is
presented as a RAN (a Radio Access Network) to
a cellular core network – this is the approach that
ETSI BRAN has adopted. This locks-in the
cellular core network for relay of data traffic.
Alternative 2: The WLAN access node
masquerades as a GSN in a cellular network,
ensuring HLR based security while allowing data
11
WLAN Cellular Interworking

traffic routing via the Internet / cellular Intranet. Selection

The following table in Figure 2 shows the detailed
Alternative 3: The WLAN access node uses the comparison of these alternatives in meeting the
standard AAA mechanisms from the IETF world. ideal set of requirements for GSM/GPRS/3G to
The AAA server in turn communicates with the WLAN interworking.
cellular HLR and charging gateway. The
signaling architecture prevents WLAN-cellular
handover.

Alternative 4: The WLAN access node acts as a

foreign agent in a standard mobile-IP solution.
This cannot provide cellular level security or
unified billing with cellular.

# Criterion 1 2 3 4
Is it possible to use this solution without the co-operation of a local serving 7 3 3 3
1
GPRS operator?
Is it possible to maintain the IP session while moving between cellular and 3 3 7 3
2
WLAN coverage?
When back-hauling traffic to home intranet, is it possible to keep it within a
3 3 3 7 7
controlled network (for security and QoS reasons)?

4 Is it possible to use dynamic IP address allocation with this solution? 3 3 3 7

5 Does the solution use the GSM/3G HLR/SIM information for authentication? 3 3 3 7

6 Does the solution use the GSM/3G GPRS billing infrastructure? 3 3 3 7

Figure 2: Criterion of selection of the interworking solution

12
 GPRS Network

SGSN GGSN
FA HA

GERAN/UTRAN

HA
HLR

1
W-RAN

Internet
2
W-GSN

AAA

Access Point 4
FA

Figure 3 - Network Architecture Alternatives

Ÿ Be a BSS/RNC to the
GSM/3G core network
Ÿ Talk Iu or Gb
Tight Coupling

Ÿ Be an SGSN to the
Local
GSM/3G core network Backhaul
Access
Ÿ Talk GTP, MAP, GTP'
Loose Coupling

Ÿ Authorization and
Charging through AAA
Ÿ AAA linked to HLR and
Charging

Ÿ Use Mobile IP
No Coupling

Ÿ Subscription attached
to Home Agent
Ÿ Foreign Agent on
Router on site

Level 0 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6

Support of CS Services
System Change needs
Common Authorization

Connection survives

'Seamless' System

Architecture
Separate (Linked)

services available
Authorization and

3GPP PS based

Coupling
system change
Separate Bills

and Charging
Common Bill

reconnection
Charging

Change

Service
Integration
Ÿ

Ÿ
Ÿ

Figure 4 - Architecture Positioning

13
WLAN Cellular Interworking
HSS’ Solution
HSS has chosen Alternative 2 (W-GSN) as it
offers the best prospects for end-customers of
WLAN and cellular services – both in the
immediate future and in the long-term. Figure 4
presents a summary of how HSS’ W-GSN
solution is positioned.
The salient features of W-GSN are:
i. This solution lets a cellular operator build a
complete WLAN network with roaming
capabilities amongst sites and with its own / other
cellular networks. The network built can either
cooperate or compete with local cellular networks
based on commercial considerations. Each
WLAN site would have one W-GSN controlling
multiple access points.
ii. The number of subscribers registered at any
one time in each site will not exceed a few
thousand. This makes it possible to reuse HSS’
GSN-Lite (a Linux PC based combined SGSN
and GGSN) as a W-GSN node. Thus the
investment required for cellular interworking of a
WLAN site could be as low only a few thousand
dollars. This is possible as the ‘attended’ nature
of WLAN hotspots means that expensive high
availability solutions are not required.
iii. This solution uses standard cellular
authentication. After authentication, the W-GSN
and user terminal have a Kc key to use for link
encryption of each session.
14
iv. This makes the WLAN air-interface as secure
as the cellular air-interface.
v. Standard CDRs generated by the W-GSN will
be collected at a charging gateway at a local
vi. Cellular network back-office. Subsequently
these records are settled with home cellular
networks using TAP3. Thus end-users will
receive unified billing and roaming capabilities in
the cellular service and WLAN service provided
by their cellular operator.
vii. Unless end-users specify otherwise, IP
addresses will be allocated by the W-GSN at the
site itself, and user traffic will join the Internet at
the W-GSN exit point. This will allow increased
capacity and improved resource usage of both
local and back-haul networks.
viii. If end-users request, IP address will be
allocated by the home cellular network GGSN,
and user traffic will be back-hauled to the home
network. This will increase the load from the W-
GSN site to back-office tunnel / leased line, and
over the GRX to the home network. However this
will enable IP sessions to remain unbroken when
users move between GPRS/3G and WLAN
networks.
ix. This solution doesn’t try to contact the
cellular MSC. The mobile may remain attached to
the overlaying cellular network’s MSC for voice
traffic. If radio technology does not permit this,
voice calls can be done over IP calls through a
VoIP gateway at the W-GSN site.
x. This solution enables even GSM operators to
provide WLAN services – with the exception of
handover.
xi. This solution enables cellular operators to
have location information on WLAN users within
the radius of an access point (i.e. 50
meters). This user location information could be
stored in the W-GSN.
Business Value of HSS’ W-GSN
Value Delivered to Mobile Operators
The value delivered to mobile operators by
WLAN-cellular interworking solutions has been
discussed. Operators can expect large returns on
very small investments, increase the use of their
existing GPRS/3G data services, acquire a
competitive edge and possibly gain access to the
lucrative enterprise segments. Specific
advantages of using HSS’ W-GSN are given
below.
1. Cellular-WLAN Roaming
Using a single dual-mode WLAN-cellular card,
the same laptop can be used in the cellular as
well as in the WLAN network.
3. Future Proof
W-GSN works in GSM and enables handover
from 3G/GPRS to WLAN networks. So operators
need not upgrade WLAN interworking
infrastructure while migrating from GSM to GPRS
to 3G.
4. Secure Authentication
W-GSN makes the WLAN air interface as secure
as that of cellular, i.e. 100% secure.
5. Unified Billing
The user will get the same bill for usage of all
WLAN and/or cellular services.
6. Location-Based Services
The position of access points and identity of
users connected to them can be used to create
location based-services.
7. Flexible
W-GSN allows mobile operators to route user
data though Internet or through the core GRX
network shared by operators. Thus mobile
operators can meet different security needs of
users and optimize the utilization of their core
network.
Value Delivered to OEMs

2. Packet Data Services with GSM 1. Jumpstart WLAN Business

W-GSN enables pure GSM operators to provide HSS’ can provide OEMs with a ready, tested and
WLAN packet data services without any off-the-shelf product for WLAN-Cellular
investment in GPRS/3G. interworking. This will eliminate the risk of failure

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WLAN Cellular Interworking

and cycle time associated with developing the

product in-house. W-GSN is particularly useful for
those OEMs who perceive a need to catch up in
this market. Without investing in R&D, OEMs can
jumpstart their business in the WLAN-cellular
interworking segment so as to compete with the
emerging market leaders.

2. Best of Breed Solution

As evident from the previous section, HSS’ W-
GSN solution has a combination of attractive
features that makes it the Best of Breed solution
in this Segment. Thus OEMs using W-GSN can
deliver enhanced value to their TSP clients vis-à-
vis their competition.

Conclusion
A WLAN-cellular interworking solution at a WLAN
hotspot creates a ‘win-win-win’ situation. Most
important of all, the end-users win. The hotspot
owners visited by more WLAN-savvy clients win.
And the cellular service providers who interwork
first also win. So why wait and lose?

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