A flat wireless ATM LAN architecture with distributed ATM switching in base stations
The infrastructure for cellular wireless ATM systems is normally assumed to be hierarchical with the ATM switching functionality being provided by centralised ATM switches. For easy installation of the infrastructure, a flat architecture is proposed for cellular wireless ATM LAN, which is enabled by a distributed ATM switch concept. In this concept, a smart ATM switching component is embedded into the wireless access point. The same component is used for a fixed ATM access point, too. A number of such switching components are connected in a ring topology to form the ATM backbone. A ring control protocol hides the ring-specific features from the user and assures that a standardised UNI is provided to any wireless and fixed terminal.