Handoff control in wireless ATM networks: An experimental study

This paper presents an experimental evaluation of handoff control for a wireless ATM network. Handoff control for dynamic re-routing of virtual circuits associated with a migrating terminal is a key function that must be provided by the “mobile ATM” network used to interconnect base stations (radio access points) in a wireless ATM scenario. A specific class of handoff control methods, based on direct extensions to currently defined ATM signaling, is evaluated via software implementation on a commercially available 2.4 Gbps ATM switch. Experimental results for handoff latency, transition delay and packet/cell loss are given for alternative handoff signaling techniques under consideration. This study shows that for the particular experimental setup under consideration (i.e. single local ATM switch, Sparc/Unix control processor, software modifications to signaling) effective ATM handoff can be achieved with latency ≈10-20 ms, delay ≈1 ms and moderate cell loss