Abstract-Mobile devices have become an integral part of our daily lives. Applications running on these devices may avail storage and compute resources from the cloud(s). Further, a mobile device may also connect to heterogeneous access networks (HANs) such as WiFi and LTE to provide ubiquitous network connectivity to mobile applications. These devices have limited resources (compute, storage and battery) that may lead to service disruptions. In this context, mobile cloud computing enables offloading of computing and storage to the cloud. However, applications running on mobile devices using clouds and HANs are prone to unpredictable cloud workloads, network congestion and handoffs. To run these applications efficiently the mobile device requires the best possible cloud and network resources while roaming in HANs. This paper proposes, develops and validates a novel system called M 2 C 2 which supports mechanisms for: i.) multihoming, ii.) cloud and network probing, and iii.) cloud and network selection. We built a prototype system and performed extensive experimentation to validate our proposed M 2 C 2 . Our results analysis shows that the proposed system supports mobility efficiently in mobile cloud computing.

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An important feature of the upcoming fourth generation wireless networks is support for heterogeneous radio access technologies in combination with an all-IP type of overall architecture. Operators and users will benefit from a smooth technology transition leveraging existing investments and use a variety of access technologies simultaneously. This paper describes and evaluates an innovative mobility management scheme in such an environment. It does not require any changes to the IP stack in the mobile node and does not introduce any additional overhead to the payload traffic over air interfaces. Furthermore, it does not add any signaling overhead and outperforms existing mobility management schemes for heterogeneous environments in terms of bandwidth consumption. The architecture uses a make-before-break principle for vertical handovers and bidirectional tunneling using various tunneling mechanisms connecting mobile nodes through access networks to a home network. Also, it proposes a packet inspection routine for timely handover execution in the home network. The architecture is evaluated both through analytical calculations and experiments using a voice over IP traffic model.

Abstract-In this paper, we present a scalability study of AAA support in mobile heterogeneous access networks with respect to server and network load related to AAA processes using the RADIUS protocol. Technologies such as IEEE 802.11, CDMA 2000 and UMTS which all support the RADIUS protocol for AAA handling are discussed and analyzed. Typical performance data are gathered and complemented with a theoretical study in order to achieve an overview of what parameters will affect the performance and scalability of the network. Also, guidelines are developed for network design in order to achieve the desired performance for a given number of users. Results of this study include the conclusion that the main bottleneck of the AAA procedure is not necessarily the AAA server CPU power. Aside the cases with a high proportion of computationally intensive WiFi sign-ons with strong encryption, performance issues may be caused by AAA server network connection bandwidth, and RAM memory. In cases where a high number of users reside in the same user database, database performance becomes a significant issue. In order to achieve better performance, CPU load balancing over several servers may be performed.

Abstract-Starting with an efficient mobility management scheme for heterogeneous wireless networks, this paper proposes a solution for AAA handling using a common database for storing user information. Regardless of the access technology selected, user@realm identities are used for authentication, authorization, and accounting. In particular, a new function is introduced in which port-based network access control is used in combination with dynamic host configuration protocol mechanisms for IP address allocation. This way, PPP-based and Ethernet-based access technologies are handled uniformly.Advantages with the proposed solution include: using only standardized mechanisms in the mobile node, as well as in the access networks. Only an additional plug-in in the AAA server (located in the access networks) needs to be deployed.The proposed AAA architecture has been implemented and evaluated in a live experimental environment. Results show authentication and authorization to perform efficiently and seamlessly.