Challenges and issues in 4G Networks Mobility Management

Wireless broadband technology is now in motion to provide higher data rate, wider coverage and improved mobility. Towards this the 4G - network is an integration of various wireless technologies and expected to provide seamless mobility. Moreover 4G-networks will be entirely packet switched systems based on IP protocol. One of the research challenges for 4G-Network is the design of intelligent mobility management techniques that take advantage of IP-based technologies to achieve global roaming among various access technologies. Hence Mobile IPv6 is considered to be one of the key technologies for integration of heterogeneous networks. However the original Mobile IPv6 does not support fast handover, which is essential function for mobile networks. Number of research groups working towards this to develop a common protocol to enable seamless mobility. In this paper we identify and explore the different issues and challenges related to mobility management in 4G - networks.