Fast Authentication during Handover in NGN

Abstract

Next Generation Networks (NGN) is the evolution of the telecommunication core. It aims at the integration of various wired and wireless technologies to satisfy user requirements and to provide ubiquitous coverage anywhere, anytime. This integration of heterogeneous networks requires efficient and fast switching from one network to another which needs a proactive handover and authentication process that maintains QoS. Handoff is a critical function that enables mobile nodes to stay connected to the network by switching the connection from one network to another. Authentication during handover is one of the main challenges. The user has to execute multi-pass Authentication procedures in order to get access to the other network. This causes overhead on the AAA server and increases the delay of authenticating the user and that is because of unnecessary and repeated procedures and protocols. This paper presents an enhanced holistic approach that eliminates the repeated steps without affecting the security level, to optimize QoS parameters during handover. This idea is in its conception stage that reduces the handover latency by using a new authentication process. The presented mechanism has minimal impact on the network infrastructure.