An IEEE 802 . 21-based Universal Information Service

Increased mobility and a heterogeneous network environment result in mobile devices frequently connecting to new access networks about which they lack information. Providing information about those access networks, supported local services, and information about the current usage context could enable mobile devices to automatically adapt to their environment. Such selfadaptation significantly reduces the need for human intervention and improves the mobile computing experience. To provide mobile devices with this information, we propose an architecture for a Universal Information Service, especially taking into consideration local access networks. This architecture is based on, reuses, and extends the infrastructure components of the emerging IEEE 802.21 standard, hence reducing deployment obstacles. Index Terms — Automatic service configuration, context-aware services, handover, IEEE 802.21, self-configuration, service discovery