Overcoming the challenges of lower layer protocol reconfiguration for software radio based mobile terminals

Dynamic reconfiguration of lower layers of the protocol stacks used in communications terminals is key to the development of future multi-mode software radios. Together with the use of software downloading, future terminals will become a platform to support the deployment of yet unspecified services and applications. This paper details experiments undertaken that have demonstrated a new way to download software to mobile terminals. Results from an experimental software (using minimal hardware) implementation of a DECT terminal are used to show how over the air (OTA) reconfiguration can be achieved in practice.