CONNECTIONLESS SIGNALING NETWORK LAYER IN UMTS

Integration of fixed and mobile networks can be facilitated by reusing fixed network signaling protocols in mobile networks. In this case, m obility aspects of signaling transfer must be handled by the lower-lay er protocols in the signaling stack. This article presents a simple co nnectionless network-layer protocol that implements transparent mobili ty support and can therefore be used for efficient signaling transfer in a microcellular mobile system. The protocol has been developed as p art of the research efforts for the European third-generation mobile s ystem UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System).