Wireless ATM: limits, challenges, and proposals

Abstract

T is instructive to review how asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technology came into being in order to discuss why wireless ATM makes any sense or not. ATM technology is the result of efforts to devise a transmission and networking technology to provide high-speed integrated services: a single infrastructure for data, voice, and video. It evolved from the wide area into the local area, and then into the access loop. The following subsections describe how this evolution took place. Abstract Recently, there has been an increased interest in the topic of "wireless ATM." The subject matter raises interest due to the potential combination of two of the hottest topics in communications of the mid-'90s, but at the same time raises a natural question as to its viability, and sometimes even its desirability. In this article the authors survey potential applications of wireless ATM and describe what is usually meant by wireless ATM, why it may make sense, and some of the proposals to build systems based on it. The emphasis in this article is on the physical layer, the data link layer, and the access layer. The authors also present general observations on each of these layers, and some research solutions to these problems. Mobility issues and interoperability with the existing networks are addressed. Finally, the authors list some of the proposals to build wireless ATM systems from the literature.