A survey of MAC protocols proposed for wireless ATM

Wireless ATM (W-ATM) networks have been studied extensively. The extension of ATM network services to the wireless environment faces many interesting problems. The original ATM network was designed for high-speed noiseless, reliable channels. None of these characteristics are applicable to the wireless channel. One of the most critical aspects of a W-ATM network is the medium access control (MAC) protocol used by mobile terminals (MTs) to request service from the base station (BS), which has to consider the quality of service (QoS) of the specific application. In this article the authors analyze some MAC protocols, particularly those for TDMA systems, and discuss their advantages and disadvantages.