Wireless ATM LAN with and without infrastructure

In this article, we consider wireless ATM concepts for small LANs, especially for SOHO and future consumer applications. We describe a wireless ATM LAN framework architecture that supports wireless ATM communications in environments with and without fixed ATM infrastructure. For the configuration with ATM infrastructure, a distributed ATM switched backbone is proposed, which enables a smart ATM switching element to be embedded in every wireless and fixed access point. For bandwidth efficiency and ease of operation (place-and-play), we also propose an ad hoc wireless ATM LAN concept based on the same 5 GHz wireless ATM air interface as is currently under standardization in ETSI/BRAN and ATM Forum. Unlike CSMA-based ad hoc systems such as HIPERLAN and IEEE802.11, our ad hoc wireless ATM system makes QoS management feasible in an infrastructureless environment by using resource reservation and scheduled medium access protocol. Since cost scalability is essential throughout our system design, we consider forwarding between ad hoc subnets and interworking with the fixed network as important but optional features.