Title: Wireless ATM Networking and Selected Service Aspects

Source: Lou Dellaverson

Motorola
Messaging, Information and Media Sector
Radio Research Laboratory
50 E. Commerce Drive
Schaumburg, IL 60173
E-mail: FLD100@email.mot.com
Tel: (708)538-5241
Fax: (708)576-0892

Abstract:
This paper discusses selected service aspects of a wireless system and the
challenges that these aspects present to implementers.
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Wireless Asynchronous Transfer Mode

(WATM)
Networking
and
Selected Service Aspects

11 December, 1995
Wireless ATM Networking and Selected Service Aspects

Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1
2. WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW ........................................................................... 1
2.1 SATELLITE LINKS ................................................................................................................... 1
2.2 DEDICATED MICROWAVE LINKS ............................................................................................ 2
2.3 FIXED WIRELESS NETWORK................................................................................................... 2
2.4 DYNAMIC TOPOLOGY WIRELESS NETWORK.......................................................................... 2
3. MODES OF OPERATION FOR A DYNAMIC TOPOLOGY WIRELESS NETWORK . 2
3.1 BASE STATION CONTROLLING CHANNEL ACCESS................................................................. 2
3.2 ASSIGNED PEER-TO-PEER ...................................................................................................... 3
3.3 AD-HOC .................................................................................................................................. 4
3.4 DISTRIBUTED ACCESS ............................................................................................................ 4
4. WIRELESS NETWORK COMPONENT OVERVIEW ....................................................... 5
4.1 PHYSICAL COMPONENTS ........................................................................................................ 5
4.1.1 Authentication Server...................................................................................................... 5
4.1.2 Multi-Sector Cell ............................................................................................................. 6
4.1.3 Single-Sector Cell............................................................................................................ 6
4.1.4 Subscriber Device............................................................................................................ 6
4.1.5 Distributed Network Device............................................................................................ 7
4.2 PROTOCOL STACK .................................................................................................................. 7
4.2.1 Mesh Management .......................................................................................................... 7
4.2.2 Queue Management......................................................................................................... 8
4.2.3 Media Access Control ..................................................................................................... 8
4.2.4 Radio Control .................................................................................................................. 8
4.2.5 Link Level Encryption..................................................................................................... 8
4.2.6 Radio ............................................................................................................................... 8
5. SELECTED SERVICE ASPECTS .......................................................................................... 8
5.1 USER AUTHENTICATION......................................................................................................... 8
5.2 LINK RELIABILITY .................................................................................................................. 8
5.3 MOBILE END SYSTEM LOCATION ........................................................................................ 10
5.4 AIR INTERFACE .................................................................................................................... 11
5.4.1 Channel Access ............................................................................................................. 11
5.4.1.1 Control Packet......................................................................................................... ............................... 12
5.4.1.2 Data Packet ............................................................................................................ ................................ 12
5.5 QUEUING .............................................................................................................................. 12
5.5.1 Base station Transmit Queuing...................................................................................... 12
5.5.1.1 Priorities................................................................................................................................................. 13
5.5.1.2 Mesh Dequeue Function ........................................................................................................................ 13
5.5.2 Base Station Receive Queuing ...................................................................................... 14
5.5.3 Subscriber Transmit Queuing........................................................................................ 14
5.5.4 Subscriber Receive Queuing ......................................................................................... 14
5.6 LINK SECURITY .................................................................................................................... 15
5.7 SUBSCRIBER HAND-OFF ....................................................................................................... 15

i
Wireless ATM Networking and Selected Service Aspects

List of Figures
FIGURE 1 -- INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENT ........................................................................................................ 1
FIGURE 2 -- BASE STATION CONTROLLING CHANNEL ACCESS ........................................................................ 3
FIGURE 3 – ASSIGNED PEER-TO-PEER ............................................................................................................. 4
FIGURE 4 -- AD-HOC COMMUNICATIONS ........................................................................................................ 4
FIGURE 5 -- DISTRIBUTED ACCESS .................................................................................................................. 5
FIGURE 6 -- OVERVIEW OF NETWORK COMPONENTS....................................................................................... 6
FIGURE 7 -- PROTOCOL STACKS ...................................................................................................................... 7
FIGURE 8 -- ASSUMED BIT ERROR RATE PROFILE OF TYPICAL WIRELESS LINK .............................................. 9
FIGURE 9 -- SELECTIVE RETRANSMIT VS. GO BACK N .................................................................................... 9
FIGURE 10 -- REMOTE END-SYSTEM LOCATION ............................................................................................ 10
FIGURE 11 – TDMA/TDD AIR FRAME STRUCTURE...................................................................................... 11
FIGURE 12 -- QUEUING OVERVIEW................................................................................................................ 13

ii
Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

1. Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to discuss selected service aspects of a wireless system and the
challenges that these aspects present to implementers.
This paper is organized as follows:
Section 2 -- Provides an overview of the four most common implementations of wireless
technology,
Section 3 – Describes four modes of operation of a Dynamic Topology Wireless Network,
Section 4 – Points out areas in which implementation agreements may be required, but are not
currently in work,
Section 5 – Discusses selected network services that are implemented differently in wireless and
wireline or are unique to wireless.

2. Wireless Technology Overview

Although wireless technology can be used at virtually any place in a network (see Figure 1), four
configurations represent the most common implementations: Satellite Links, Dedicated
Microwave, Fixed Wireless Networks, and Dynamic Topology Wireless Networks. These
implementation are described in the following paragraphs.

2.1 Satellite Links

Satellites have traditionally enjoyed a special dispensation when it comes to standards. Because
of the hostile environment in which they operate and the physical constraints on their design, the
system design dictates tradeoffs where the earth station normally accommodates the satellite.
From a network user standpoint there is no difference between the service provided by a satellite
link and a wired connection, apart from delay.

Satelitte
Link Wired ATM Node

Dynamic Topology

Static Topology

Dedicated Microwave

Ad Hoc Communication

Figure 1 -- Integrated Environment

1
Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

2.2 Dedicated Microwave Links

These systems are used interchangeably with a wire. It is normal practice to use the equipment
from the same manufacturer on both ends of a link, with interfaces meeting a specialized set of
user requirements. Because each installation is dedicated to solving a unique connectivity
problem, developers should be free to provide an over the air protocol that optimizes the link.

2.3 Fixed Wireless Network

A Static Topology Wireless Network consists of a base station and one or more user stations.
The base station may or may not be integrated with the switch. If it is not integrated with the
switch, the base station to switch interface would be a standard User Network Interface (UNI).
The most significant element in this configuration is contention between users for access to a
shared medium. It is reasonable to assume that each system or cell of base station and user
stations would come from the same manufacturer, and that the base stations will not interact with
each other directly.

2.4 Dynamic Topology Wireless Network

The closest analogy to a Dynamic Topology Wireless Network can be drawn from today’s
cellular voice systems. The infrastructure of this network should be accessible by subscriber
devices built by any manufacturer. This calls for a very high degree of standardization covering
all aspects of wireless access. Here are some of the areas that must be addressed:
• User authentication,
• Link reliability mechanisms,
• Mobile end-system location,
• Air interface,
• Queuing,
• Link security, and
• Subscriber hand-off.
The issue here is interoperability. Satellite Links, Microwave Links, and Fixed Wireless
Networks have extremely limited interoperability issues; while worthy of future attention by the
forum, the need is not nearly as pressing.

3. Modes of Operation for a Dynamic Topology Wireless Network

This paper defines four modes of operation: Base Station Control; Assigned Peer-to-Peer;
Distributed Access; and Ad-Hoc. Each mode will be discussed more fully under its own heading.
The modes are not mutually exclusive, and it is envisioned that the different modes will
simultaneously exist in the same RF propagation areas. Also, all of the examples given here
assume Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) as the access
technologies. This is not to be taken as a strict endorsement of TDMA or TDD, but as a
convenience to allow more specific discussion of the examples. A more detailed discussion of a
TDMA Air Interface is provided in paragraph 5.4.

3.1 Base Station Controlling Channel Access

In the Base Station controlling access mode (see Figure 2), all communications pass from an end-
system through a base station to reach their final destination. This type of access is most

2
Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

Base Station
Wired Infrastructure

Control Data Data Data Control Data Data Data

Packet Packet Packet Packet Packet Packet Packet Packet

Figure 2 -- Base Station Controlling Channel Access

normally associated with high density systems where stringent bandwidth management is used to
provide maximum channel utilization.
This mode is most appropriately used when the following characteristics are important:
• very few cells are lost to collision,
• subscriber bandwidth guarantees (within limits) need to be made,
• intelligent queuing and scheduling in the Base Station allow for a simpler and less
power hungry subscriber device,
• strict subscriber scheduling provides the opportunity for aggressive subscriber device
power saving approaches, and
• subscriber devices are not mutually visible.

3.2 Assigned Peer-to-Peer

The Assigned Peer-to-Peer mode provides “unsupervised” bandwidth for two or more users that
can mutually hear each other. One, or more, cells in each frame are allocated to these users. The
Base Station does not control which subscriber device uses the allocated cells or when; this is left
to the communicating devices. At the end of the exchange, the initiating subscriber will inform
the Base Station that the allocated cells are no longer needed.

3
Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

Base Station
Wired Infrastructure

Control Data Data Data

Packet Packet Packet Packet

Figure 3 – Assigned Peer-to-Peer

3.3 Ad-Hoc
In Ad-Hoc mode two or more subscriber devices communicate directly with each other without
any involvement of a Base Station. This mode is most appropriate for systems that will employ a
Unlicensed Personal Communications System (UPCS) type etiquette.

Figure 4 -- Ad-Hoc Communications

3.4 Distributed Access

In Distributed Access mode, wireless enabled network devices are made available to roaming
subscriber devices. This mode provides its own special challenges to implementers, most
especially in the area of network administration. The owner of the distributed devices will
probably wish to exercise some control over who (which Subscriber Devices) can access their
devices. Without a Base Station to provide some form of access control, classic approaches to
distributed control can consume significant amounts of user bandwidth.

4
Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

Wireless Access Point

Roaming Subscriber
Device

Distributed Access
Network Printer

Figure 5 -- Distributed Access

4. Wireless Network Component Overview

Major functional components of a wireless network are shown in Figure 6. Protocol layers
required to support wireless are shown in Figure 7. All of these components have potential work
items that may not be addressed in implementation agreements currently under development. The
following paragraphs provide an overview of each of these components.

4.1 Physical Components

As an illustration, we assume that four adjacent 2Mhz channels are available. Three channels are
used for connections that use the Base Station to mediate Subscriber access. The fourth channel
is used for direct Subscriber to Subscriber connectivity (Ad-Hoc). It should be noted that many
other frequency allocation schemes are equally feasible.

4.1.1 Authentication Server

The Authentication Server (AuS) is depicted as a single device for convenience only; its
functions may be distributed among several physical network devices. The Home Location
Register (HLR), Visitor Location Register (VLR), and Equipment Identity Register (EIR) provide
the same functionality as in conventional cellular systems. In this system, the HLR takes on the
additional requirement of verifying the services and level of service for which the subscriber has
contracted.
A Base Station must be able to determine the ATM End-System address of the HLR that holds
the data needed to authenticate the connecting subscriber device. The following is a possible
convention for creating the main HLR address:
1. Authority Format Identifier (AFI) -- 45 (All HLRs use E.164 addresses)
2. Initial Domain Identifier (IDI) -- Service provider ID (Also in the subscriber address)
3. Host Domain Specific Part (HO-DSP) -- 0000 (regional servers will use region ID)
4. End System Identifier (ESI) – 0000
5. Selector (SEL) – 0
The components of the AuS also play a key role in mobility management; this aspect is discussed
in paragraph 5.3.

5
Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

Single Sector Cell

Authentication
Server
Distributed
Visitor Home Network
Location Location Device
Register Register Wired Infrastructure

Equipment Identity
Register Multi Sectored Cell

ATM Switch
n
tio
e Sta h
s tc
Ba Swi

Subscriber Device
Cell Cluster

Figure 6 -- Overview of Network Components

4.1.2 Multi-Sector Cell

A radio channel is a shared resource: the more users attempting to share the resource, the less
each can have. The most common solution to this problem is the multi-sectored cell. With each
sector providing coverage for a smaller area, they can provide a resource that is shared among
fewer users, thus creating a higher total throughput for the cell. This approach is more
appropriate to public networks or any other high user density environment.
An example of a multi-sector cell is one that uses three pairs of radios, each pair (comprising a
o
transmitter and receiver) covering a 120 sector and using a different frequency per sector. The
base station radios are intelligent, and provide significant processing to accommodate the over the
air protocol. The base station has a four port ATM switch at the center. Each radio is attached to
a port on the switch; the fourth port provides a connection to the infrastructure.

4.1.3 Single-Sector Cell

The drawback to multi-sectored cells are their cost and increased complexity. Single-sector cells
overcome both of these problems. Their simplicity and low cost are well suited to private
networking applications, such as in-home or in-office. Single sector cells normally cover a
smaller geographic area, typically tens of meters. This shorter range provides the potential for
higher data rates and/or lower power output (longer battery life).

4.1.4 Subscriber Device

The combination of a high bandwidth (1-10Mbs) radio and an ATM logic board can provide a
new class of subscriber devices, capable of supporting voice, video, and data. They may have
imbedded radio and logic circuitry, or they may be added as a plug-in component. Even though

6
Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

Subscriber Base Station

Device Device

ATM Adaptation
Layer

ATM ATM
Layer Layer

Mesh Mesh ATM

Management Management Layer

Queue Queue
Management Management

Media Access Media Access

Control Control

Radio Radio
Control Control

Physical
Link Level Link Level
Encryption Encryption

Radio Radio

Switch
Ports

Figure 7 -- Protocol Stacks

the system can support all these services, it would not be required that each subscriber device
have the necessary I/O peripherals to make use of them.

4.1.5 Distributed Network Device

Distributed Network Devices are network resources (e.g. printers) that are accessed directly by
the network, not through a host computer. While such devices are commonplace in wired
networks, they are not normally thought of as wireless resources. The ability to easily move
network resources to the physical locations where they are needed can add a new dimension of
flexibility to networking.

4.2 Protocol Stack

The protocol stacks in Figure 7 were created with the object of “hiding” the physical media type
from the ATM Adaptation layer and above. From the user’s perspective, this provides for
seamless transitions from wireless to wireline and vice versa. The following layers may be
defined.

4.2.1 Mesh Management

In the subscriber device, this layer provides the functions necessary to locate Base Stations,
determine which one is the best to use, and to determine when to initiate a handoff. The Base
Station Mesh Management layer is responsible for determining the network topology around the
base station and negotiating entrance into the network (self organization).

4.2.2 Queue Management

The Queue Management layer provides for shared access of a single physical medium (the radio
channel). The function is discussed at more length in paragraph 5.5..

7
Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

4.2.3 Media Access Control

The Media Access Control (MAC) layer prepares the transmit buffers and “empties” the receive
buffers. This activity is very parameter driven, based upon the characteristics of the radio being
used.

4.2.4 Radio Control

This layer provides for software control of the radio functions. This layer is specific to each
different radio used.

4.2.5 Link Level Encryption

Wireless communications are perceived to be more vulnerable to data compromise than wired
systems. Therefore, automatic encryption and decryption are provided as part of the physical
layer. The encryption provided must be chosen carefully to minimize legislative barriers to
global deployment and it must not change the number of bits in the transmission unit.

4.2.6 Radio
Implementation details of the radio hardware will probably vary over time. To protect the
remainder of the system from these changes, the radio will be able to communicate, to the MAC
and Radio Control layers, a set of descriptive parameters detailing its features.

5. Selected Service Aspects

This section contains several selected service aspects of a network that are either implemented
very differently in wireline and wireless or are not addressed in wireline. These are shown as
examples and are not meant to be an exhaustive list.

5.1 User Authentication

User Authentication in wireline systems is most normally thought of as authenticating one user to
another. Authenticating the user to the network may also be done, but it is usually the exception
rather than the rule. Also, in wireless systems, it is much easier for a user to capture the
connection of another user. This adds the requirement for periodic re-issuing of the user
challenge.

5.2 Link Reliability

Link reliability is probably the most striking difference between wireless and wireline systems.
The assumed error profile of a wireless link differs from that of a wired link in some fundamental
ways. As Figure 8 shows, a wireless link is either good or very bad. The wide swing in error
rates makes effective use of Forward Error Correction (FEC) schemes difficult at best. The other
striking difference is that single bit errors are the exception. When bit errors occur, they are
normally tens to hundreds of bits long. The amount of FEC coding required to repair 100 out of
424 is prohibitive, because the amount of FEC added to a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) determines
the maximum possible throughput of the channel. Maximum throughput is defined as Number of
Data Bits divided by Number of Transmitted Bits.

8
Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
10^-6 10^-5 10^-4 10^-3 10^-2

Figure 8 -- Assumed Bit Error Rate Profile of Typical Wireless Link

Selective
Retransmit
0.8

0.6
f( Pber )
Max PDU
f1( Pber )

f2( Pber )
0.4

Default PDU
0.2

0 10 9 8 7 6 5 4
1 10 1 10 1 10 1 10 1 10 1 10 1 10 0.001 0.01
Pber

Figure 9 -- Selective Retransmit vs. Go Back N

One of the most effective methods for dealing with the error profile shown in Figure 8 is selective
retransmission of the smallest defined PDU (in this case an ATM cell). The MAC layer can be
enabled to perform this function, provided that some additional data are included with the ATM
cell. The cell would need a one byte sequence number and a two byte Cyclic Redundancy Check
(CRC). These elements would be added by the sender and removed by the receiver.
It is true that this approach adds to cell overhead, but Figure 9 clearly shows the increase in
effective throughput. This gain more than offsets the overhead.
In Figure 9, Go Back N (Max. MTU), represents error correction at the upper layers by
retransmitting the entire PDU when the PDU is 1366 ATM cells long. This is the maximum size
of an AAL5 PDU. The Go Back N (Default MTU) uses the default size of an AAL5 PDU (192

9
Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

ATM cells). The Go Back N retransmission scheme is the one defined by the current ATM
implementation agreements. The Selective retransmit curve is the throughput if individual cells
are retransmitted by the lower level protocols.
The most significant observation comes from combining the data in Figure 8 and Figure 9. This
clearly shows that in the typical wireless BER region (10-6 - 10-2), the system throughput falls off
quite steeply when a Go Back N scheme is used.

5.3 Mobile End System Location

An example of the major components of mobile end-system location are shown in Figure 10, and
are taken quite loosely from the GSM world. These components were introduced in section 0.
We will now expand upon their functionality and use in the network:
Home Location Register (HLR) – The HLR stores the identity and user data for all subscribers
that belong to its area of responsibility. In the cellular systems of today, this would equate to all
subscribers contracted to a given service provider.
Visitor Location Register (VLR) – The VLR contains data on all of the mobiles currently located
in it servicing area. The VLR also supports the Base Station during call setup and user
authentication.
Visiting System Home System
HLR
HLR

VLR

Base Base
Station Station

EIR

Mobile Subscriber Visiting Mobile

Subscriber
Figure 10 -- Remote End-System Location

Equipment Identity Register (EIR) – The EIR is the implementation of a security measure in the
network and is included here for completeness. It maintains a list of all subscriber devices that
have been stolen or for some other reason are not permitted to use the system.
When a mobile device uses the system, the first required activity is a registration. During this
process, the Base Station involved contacts the mobile’s HLR. The HLR responds with
authentication data and updates its table with the mobile’s current location.
When subsequent attempts are made to contact the mobile, the originating Base Station can
retrieve the mobile’s last known location from the servicing HLR. The call is then routed to the
VLR that services that area. If the requested mobile is not currently active, the VLR pages the
mobile, requesting a location update.

10
 Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

While this discussion has been limited to mobility, there is a super-set of requirements referred to
as Nomadicity. These requirements are being researched and defined by the Cross-Industry
Working Team (XIWT).
“By nomadicity, we mean the ability of people to move easily from place to place,
retaining access to a rich set of services while they’re moving, at intermediate
stops, and at their destination. A person is a nomad vis-à-vis the NII if she
moves as little as from one desk to an adjoining one or as far away as across a
continent.”
Nomadicity in the NII - XIWT June 1995

5.4 Air Interface

The Air Interface discussion in this paper will be limited to Time Division Multiple Access
(TDMA). The fact that ATM uses fixed cell sizes greatly simplifies the use of TDMA as an air
interface. We also assume the use of Time Division Duplex (TDD), as it allows more flexible
utilization of available bandwidth.

Frame Size = 12.5 msec

TDMA
Slot

Control Data Data Data Data

Packet Packet Packet Packet Packet

Data Cell ATM Cell

+
Radio Header
and
Inter-slot Trailer
Guard Time

Figure 11 – TDMA/TDD Air Frame Structure

5.4.1 Channel Access

Figure 11, will be used to provide an overview discussion of TDMA and TDD as they relate to
Wireless Asynchronous Transfer Mode.
The determination of TDMA slot size is given as:

( Data _ Size + Radio _ Header + Trailer )

Slot _ Size = + Radio _ TurnAround + Pr opagation _ Delay + Clock _ Slippage
( Bits / Hertz ) * Channel _ Size

Where:
Radio turnaround time is the length of time it takes a radio to switch from transmit to receive and
vise versa.
Propagation delay is the round trip time from the Base Station to the cell edge. Quite normally,
as the cell size increases, the propagation delay increases until it becomes the dominating term in
the equation.
Clock slippage is the time difference between the senders and receivers clocks.

11
Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

Bits per Hertz , in combination with transmitter power, determines the power per bit. For a bit to
be successfully received, it must have more power then the background interference. This
becomes a limiting factor in channel coding schemes.

TDMA is normally considered a framing protocol and therefore carries framing bits in the
headers and trailers to indicate the beginning and ending of a slot. Because ATM cells are of a
fixed length, the slot is always of a fixed length, eliminating the need for framing bits in the
headers and trailers.

5.4.1.1 Control Packet

A Control Packet is sent in the first slot of each frame and provides several functions in a TDMA
system. It acts as a channel marker, identifying the Base Station to the subscribers. Receipt of
the Control Packet can be used to reset the clocks in all subscribers serviced by this Base Station,
thus reducing the Clock_Slippage term above. The Control Packet carries the subscriber unit
channel access grants for the current frame. It also can carry a map of packet acknowledgments
based on the previous frame.

5.4.1.2 Data Packet

The Data Packet is the basic unit of information carried by the network. As Figure 11 shows, a
Data Packet in a wireless system must also carry a prepended Radio Header and an appended
Trailer. The most important bits in the Radio Header are the sync-bits this is a predefined bit
pattern that is used to synchronize the receiver with the transmitter.

5.5 Queuing
The fact that all users in a given sector must share access to a single data channel is the prime
difference between wireless and wired ATM. This also creates the requirement for a somewhat
sophisticated queuing method for the base station. Figure 12 provides an overview of a candidate
queuing function and should be referred throughout this discussion.
The aspect of shared access to common media is also an issue in Hybrid Fiber-Coax (HFC)
implementations of ATM, while this paper only references wireless it may also be used launch
point for a discussion on HFC queuing.

5.5.1 Base station Transmit Queuing

At Base Station initialization, the following static queues are allocated:
Signaling -- Receive and Transmit,
Random Access – Receive,
Emergency – Receive and Transmit,
Infrastructure.
At the time of connection establishment, the Mesh allocates a User Receive Queue and an
Assigned User Transmit Queue for each requesting stream.
All queues follow a logical FIFO discipline. Each queue has two primary characteristics: priority
and retransmit policy. In general, the priority is a measure of how much bandwidth will be
allocated to one stream vs. another. The retransmit policy specifies how many times an
unacknowledged packet should be retransmitted before placing the queue on hold. Although
established at connection time, these parameters could be renegotiated during the life of the
connection if the channel conditions change.

12
Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

Mesh In Mesh Out

MAC
User Receive Queue N U User Receive Queue N
R
R
U
User Receive Queue 1 R User Receive Queue 1
T
M T M
S T
e T e
o U H
Signaling s s Signaling
r
h T h
U t
R
Emergency Traffic U Emergency Traffic
D E
R P
e n
a
q T q
c
u u
T k U
Random Access Cells e B e
T e u T
u u
t i R
e H e
s l
U T
Assigned User Transmit N d Infrastructure
R T
T
R T
H R
T e
Assigned User Transmit 1 T a T
Retransmit Map d T
T H
e
r
H

Figure 12 -- Queuing Overview

5.5.1.1 Priorities
There are 3 special queues in the system: Emergency, Random Access and Signaling.
The Emergency queue services the functional equivalent of a 911 call and will always be
assigned a base priority higher than any other base priority in the system.
The Random Access queue serves a special function. Random Access cells are the only
mechanism that subscriber devices have to request new services. Therefore, as long as the Base
Station is accepting new requests and all ready cells in the Emergency queue have been serviced
at least one Random Access cell will be included in the frame. Additionally, if after all ready
cells have been serviced and there are still unused time slots in the frame, Random Access cells
will be allocated to fill the frame.
The Signaling queue is used by the system to send wireless unique signaling messages and to
disseminate system broadcast messages. This queue does not have a default base priority, a
priority is assigned to each cell, by the Mesh Layer, when the cell is created. When cells are
added to this queue it will be reordered if necessary.

5.5.1.2 Mesh Dequeue Function

The Mesh Dequeuing function determines which cells should be included in the current frame
under construction and copies those cells to the transmit buffer. The function examines the
queues using the following algorithm:
1. Any cells in the Emergency Transmit queue are copied for transmit until the queue is
empty or the frame is full (full means – if the Base Station is not accepting new
requests all cells are used, if the Base is accepting new requests all but one cell are
used),
2. If the Base station is accepting new service requests, one cell from the Random
Access queue is copied,

13
Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

3. The remaining queues are examined in turn and the cell with the highest dynamic
priority is copied to the transmit buffer,
4. Step three is repeated until the all slots in the frame have cells allocated to them or
there are no more scheduled cells available,
5. If there are any unused slots remaining in the frame, additional Random Access cells
are allocated to fill the frame.

5.5.2 Base Station Receive Queuing

During receive cell processing, the radio decrypts the cell, computes its CRC and compares it to
the CRC sent in the message. If there is a match, the cell is passed through the MAC layer to the
Mesh Enqueue Function and the corresponding bit in the retransmit map is set to good. If the
CRC does not match, the radio sets the corresponding bit in the retransmit map to bad.
Upon receipt of the retransmit map, the Mesh Dequeue function deletes, from its queues, the cells
successfully sent and, if appropriate, adjusts the dynamic priority of the unsuccessful cells.
However, voice and video cells are not retransmitted. The data about the success or failure of
their transmission is retained to use in a calculation of overall channel quality.
Upon receipt of a good cell, the Mesh Enqueue function inserts it into the appropriate queue. It
should be noted the User Receive queues shown under Mesh Out in Figure 12 are really the
“tops” of the same queues shown under Mesh In.

5.5.3 Subscriber Transmit Queuing

The Base Station indicates to the Subscriber Unit which slot(s) of the frame are allocated to it for
transmitting and which subscriber queue to transmit from. This greatly simplifies the queuing
mechanism in the subscriber unit. The subscriber must be prepared to send the asked for cell or it
must send an idle cell in its place. When the cell is finally ready for transmission, the subscriber
unit will determine whether or not the cell has missed its window of usefulness, if it has, the
subscriber will discard the cell instead of sending it.

5.5.4 Subscriber Receive Queuing

Subscriber Receive Queuing is equally simplified. The subscriber unit must be prepared to
receive the cell on schedule and have sufficient buffer space allocated. The subscriber radio will
re-compute the cell CRC and compare it to the transmitted CRC for correctness. If the cell is
correct, it will be forwarded to the Queue Management layer, if not the subscriber will be
informed.

5.6 Link Security

Security is a threat/counter-measure oriented discipline. While the security threats to wireless
systems are basically the same as those to a wired system, their relative importance and
appropriate counter-measures are different. The general categories of system threats are:
• Unauthorized disclosure of information,
• Denial of service,
• Unauthorized manipulation of information, and
• Unauthorized use.
Wireless communication systems classically have three disclosure vulnerabilities:

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Wireless ATM Networking And Selected Service Aspects

1. Data disclosure
2. Network topology and end point identification
3. Identification by communication characteristics
In a wireless system, service can be denied by three means:
1. Interference caused by the normal electromagnetic “background”
2. Interference caused by the intentional introduction of a competing signal
3. Interposition of electro-magnetic opaque material between the transmitter and the
receiver
Manipulation includes:
1. Interception and retransmission of altered data
2. Interception and replacement of user data
Unauthorized use takes two forms:
1. The use of the system by an unauthorized party
2. The use of a service carried on the system by a party authorized to use the system,
but not the particular service requested

5.7 Subscriber Hand-off

A look at the modes of operation discussed here, shows that subscriber hand-off only applies to
the Base Station Controlling Mode. In that mode, subscriber hand-off presents particular
problems in the light of ATM Quality of Service guarantees and continuing virtual connections.
This is one area where the analogy with cellular breaks down. In today’s cellular, Base Station
Controllers monitor the activity of several Base Stations and mediate the hand-off process.
Because each Base Station is managing its own admission policy, it is more than possible that a
subscriber may attempt to hand-off to a Base Station that has no capacity left to service the
connection.
As a subscriber moves from one Base Station to the next, with an on going connection, the virtual
path keeps extending until it may no longer represent an optimal path through the network. There
is no method currently defined to allow periodic checks of the route, to determine if it should be
changed. There is also no provision for breaking a virtual connection and restarting it through a
different route without losing cells.

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