A signaling architecture for wireless ATM access networks

A multiservice wireless Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) access system is considered from a signaling protocol viewpoint. In an attempt to generalize and extend results and experiences obtained from the specification, design, and implementation of fixed ATM-based access networks, we extend the concept of the broadband V interface (referred to as VB) for application to wireless ATM access networks. The proposed architecture follows the signaling structure of Broadband ISDN (B-ISDN) User-Network Interface (UNI), thus offering the possibility for integration of the wireless ATM access system into fixed B-ISDN. It is shown that the use of the proposed access signaling architecture provides cost effective implementations without degrading the agreed Quality of Service (QoS), and simplifies call/connection and handover control. The evaluation of the proposed access signaling protocol structure yields results that fall within acceptable ATM signaling performance measures. A performance comparison of our approach with an alternative access signaling configuration is also carried out to quantify the relative gains.