Mobile ATM network using concentrated base station architecture

Multimedia mobile communication systems with high-speed radio transmission supported by asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technologies have been intensively studied over the last few years. Smaller radio zones termed microcells and picocells will be used in this kind of mobile communication systems for the purpose of high-speed radio transmission. When the coverage of a radio zone is smaller, the amount of traffic per radio zone is relatively low. It is not possible to use the cable circuits connecting the switch and base stations in an efficient manner because of the lack of the scale effect of traffic. With smaller radio zones, moreover, handoff occurs frequently as a mobile station moves. The switch is required a large capacity to handle the processing of frequent handoffs. This paper proposes a mobile network architecture controlled by the concentrated grouping of base stations. A special feature of this configuration is the ability of the network's switches to efficiently accommodate numerous base stations that control small radio zones. It can also lighten the handoff control load of switches; the effect of handoff frequency reduction is evaluated with computer simulation.