Ambient Networks defines a new kind of network architecture, which embeds support for co operation and competition between diverse network types within a common control layer. This unified networking concept can adapt to the heterogeneous environments of different radio technologies and service and network environments.  Special focus is placed on facilitating both competition and co-operation of various market players, by defining interfaces which allow the instant negotiation of cooperation agreements.  The Ambient Networking concept has been developed in the framework of the Ambient Networks project, which is co-sponsored by the European Union under the Information Society Technology (IST) priority of the 6th Framework Programme. The Ambient Networks project mobilised the work of researchers from over forty different organisations, both major industrial corporations and leading academic institutions, from Europe and worldwide. This book offers a complete and detailed overview of the Ambient Networking concept and its core technologies.  The authors explain the problems with current mobile IP networks and the need for a new mobility-aware IP-based control architecture, before presenting the Ambient Networking concept itself and the business opportunities that it offers.  The architecture, components, features and challenges of Ambient Networking are covered in depth, with comprehensive discussions of multi-radio access, generic Ambient Network signalling, mobility support, context and network management and built-in media delivery overlay control.  Ambient Networks: Co-operative Mobile Networking for the Wireless World Explains the need for Ambient Networking, discussing the limitations of today’s proposed architectures, and explaining the business potential of edge networks and network co-operation. Describes Ambient Networking technology in detail, and addresses the technical challenges for implementation. Includes practical user scenarios which are fully analysed and assessed through simulation studies. Including a complete examination of the research and technologies arising from the Ambient Networks concept, Ambient Networks will be invaluable for research and development teams in networking and communications technology, as well as advanced students in electrical engineering and computer science faculties.  Standardisation specialists, research departments, and telecommunications analysts will also find this a helpful resource.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements ix 1 Introduction 1 1.1 The Current Communications Environment 1 1.2 The Ambient Networking Concept 4 1.3 The Ambient Networks Project 4 1.4 How to Read This Book 5 1.5 Outlook 6 2 Ambient Networks – The Consequence of Convergence 7 2.1 Convergence Leading Towards Ambient Networks 7 2.2 Realization of Convergence 8 2.3 Converged All-IP Networks 9 2.4 Network Convergence with the IP Multimedia Subsystem 12 2.5 Towards Ambient Networks 18 2.6 Motivation for a New Approach 19 2.7 Architectural Requirements for Ambient Networks 21 2.8 Summary 26 3 The Business Environment for Ambient Networks 27 3.1 Business Drivers and Benefi ts 27 3.2 Business Actors 30 3.3 The AN Business Proposition: The Value Network 33 3.4 Financial Aspects 37 3.5 Network Composition – Business View 38 3.6 Migration Aspects 40 3.7 Summary 42 4 Architecture and Components 43 4.1 Introduction 43 4.2 The Ambient Network Approach 44 4.3 The Ambient Control Space Concept 46 4.4 The Ambient Layer Model 53 4.5 Summary 64 5 Security in Ambient Networks 65 5.1 Introduction 65 5.2 Security Problem Space in Ambient Networks 67 5.3 Security Architecture 70 5.4 Key Problems and Solutions 79 5.5 Conclusion, Outlook and Further Work 92 6 Network Composition 93 6.1 Introduction and Motivation 93 6.2 Composition Procedures 94 6.3 Definition of Composition Types 97 6.4 Conclusions 105 7 GANS – Generic Ambient Networks Signalling 107 7.1 Introduction 107 7.2 State of the Art 110 7.3 Protocol Architecture 114 7.4 GANS Transport Layer Protocol 116 7.5 QoS Signalling Application 118 7.6 Conclusions 124 8 Multi-Radio Access 125 8.1 Introduction 125 8.2 Multi Radio Access – Problems and State of the Art 128 8.3 The AN Multi-Radio Access Architecture 133 8.4 Access Selection 138 8.5 Challenging Multi-Radio Access Networking Scenarios 146 8.6 Deployment Cost Savings 151 8.7 Migration Issues 154 8.8 Conclusion, Outlook and Further Work 154 9 Ambient Networks Mobility Management 157 9.1 Background and Motivation 157 9.2 The Framework for Mobility Management 159 9.3 Functional Entities 166 9.4 Trigger Mechanisms 169 10 Overlay Networks for Media Delivery 177 10.1 Introduction 177 10.2 Why Media Delivery Support in the Network Infrastructure? 178 10.3 Media Delivery Architecture 181 10.4 Concept Evaluation and Demonstration 196 10.5 Conclusion, Outlook and Further Work 201 11 ContextWare – Context Awareness in Ambient Networks 203 11.1 Introduction 203 11.2 Network Context Awareness 204 11.3 Context Awareness in Ambient Networks 206 11.4 Ambient Networks ContextWare: Architecture and System Design 211 11.5 ContextWare Prototypes 223 11.6 Conclusions 230 12 Towards Ambient Networks Management 231 12.1 Introduction 231 12.2 Ambient Networks Management Challenges 234 12.3 Ambient Networks Management Approaches 235 12.4 Conclusions 255 References 261 Abbreviations 269 Index 273