Footprints for mobile communications

One of the many requirements of the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) standard being defined for a broadband integrated services digital network (B-ISDN) is that it be able to support all the services currently provided by existing separate networks. One service of particular interest is mobile communications. In order to support this projected expansion it will be necessary to progressively reduce the size of the radio cells in areas of high traffic density. The burden placed on the existing hand-over protocols will become insurmountable and new techniques will be required. One such technique is to disseminate the call information to the adjacent base-stations, called the footprint, by use of a selective broadcast facility in the ATM network so that when an hand-over is required all the details about the connexion already exist at the new base-station. The protocol described has been implemented on the ATM network simulator developed in Durham, and some of the findings are reported