Optional WiMAX Mobility Module Features

Worldwide Interoperability Microwave Access (WiMAX) is an 802.16-based implementation of a standard broadband wireless access technology used for applications that include mobile broadband, fixed broadband connections, hotspot and cellular backhaul, and high speed enterprise connectivity for businesses.

The main components of WiMAX include (Figure 2):

• Mobile Station—The device used by the end user to access the network.
• Access Service Network Gateway (ASN-GW)—Located at the Network Access Provider, the ASN GW provides radio resource management, access control, and mobility management services.
• Mobile IP Home Agent (MIP-HA)—Located at the Connectivity Service Provider (CSP) the MIP-HA acts as mobility anchor, providing access to IP-based services and acting as the policy enforcement point for policy management applications.
• AAA Server—Located at the CSP, the AAA server provides authentication and authorization of subscribers, devices (or both), as well as mobility management.

  Figure 2: WiMAX Reference Architecture

  

The optional WiMAX Mobility module enables Steel-Belted Radius Carrier to act as either the home AAA (HAAA) or visited AAA (VAAA) as shown in Figure 2. It also handles EAP-authentication over RADIUS, manages mobility, and is responsible for processing accounting requests for both post and prepaid billing.

The functions the AAA server is responsible for in a WiMAX network include:

• Network attachment—Securely attach a user or device (or both) to the network, and manage its authentication keys throughout the session lifetime.
• Mobility management–Manage a user’s mobility throughout the session lifetime.
• Resource Management—Assign and manage a user’s network resources
  • User IP addresses
  • Home agent assignment
• Quality of Service—Manage and assign a user’s WiMAX QoS flows and authorize their activation
• Billing—Provide user/session and QoS flow-based accounting (service session) and reconciliation
• Roaming—Act as a visited or home AAA in roaming scenarios. Ensure proper authentication and billing

The WiMAX mobility module of Steel-Belted Radius Carrier supports the following features:

• AAA-generated cryptographic keys generation, management, and distribution
• EAP authentication methods and EAP-derived cryptographic keys
• WiMAX VSA support, including Continued and Structured attributes
• Capabilities negotiation
• Access-Request categorization by client type: ASN-GW, home agent, DHCP server or other
• Home agent and DHCP server assignment
• Post-Paid Accounting, including per-flow and continued sessions
• Reauthentication (authenticate-only service type) without handover
• Mobility and handover, including reauthentication and accounting with handover

For more information, see Configuring the WiMAX Mobility Module.