Adaptive parameter computation in a PRMA, TDD based medium access control for ATM wireless networks

This paper deals with a new adaptive time division duplex (TDD) access technique which can be used, in wireless networks, for providing a simple, efficient, flexible and transparent transport for asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cells from a base station (BS), interfaced with the ATM broadband integrated service digital network (B-ISDN) network, to ATM portable stations (PSs) and vice versa. Such technique is being implemented in the "MEDIAN" project of the European Community (EC) Advance Communications Technologies and Services (ACTS) programme. The above-mentioned access technique exploits packet reservation multiple access (PRMA) techniques (PRMA is one of the major European Community candidate access techniques for the third generation of mobile systems). This paper proposes an algorithm which, in conjunction with the described original TDD architecture, permits one to adaptively determine the parameters which characterize the PRMA technique so that they fit, in a real time fashion, the present traffic situations and service requirements. Up to now, only solutions foreseeing non-adaptive PRMA parameters have been proposed which are no more suitable in high speed networks where high service peakedness and very different service requirements are foreseen.