Juha Ala-Laurila

Implementation of the wireless ATM access terminal

Multimedia applications with audio and video connections have created totally new bandwidth and Quality of Service (QoS) requirements for the computer data networks. In order to meet the new customer requirements also the wireless access networks have to be enhanced to support the increased demand for broadband services. Wireless ATM (WATM) technology has emerged as one of the most promising alternatives for implementing multimedia capable mobile networks. The Magic WAND (Wireless ATM Network Demonstrator) is an international research project designing a WATM network that provides indoor radio coverage and user mobility. The system is mainly targeted for customer premises networks and hot spots with a large number of people within a restricted area, such as airports. This paper describes the architecture of the wireless ATM terminal developed for the Magic WAND demonstrator. The focus is on the terminal software which supports the user mobility and the native ATM access on the Windows NT operating system environment. The first part of the paper presents the generic reference model for the broadband radio networks and describes the Magic WAND system architecture. The latter part of the document focuses on the terminal implementation presenting the structural breakdown of the terminal, the Windows NT operating system and the actual implementation. Finally, the paper depicts briefly the development process and applied design methods.