A system architecture for broadband millimeter-wave access to an ATM LAN

We present a system architecture for a broadband indoor wireless digital communications system, capable of supporting ATM at transport bit rates up to about 160 Mb/s for broadband LANs. Access is via a radio system with carrier frequencies within the 20 to 60 GHz range, because of the relative abundance of available bandwidth in this range. The system design is shaped by a set of service requirements, by the characteristics of indoor millimeter wave radio channels, and by the constraints and opportunities of the relevant device technologies. The design includes a multi-access microcellular architecture accommodating ATM traffic with a wide range of broadband and narrowband bit rates and services in an office environment. A modern configuration incorporating bandwidth spreading, signal processing, and coding measures to provide immunity to the effects of radio channel fading, multipath, shadowing, interference and noise, and millimeter-wave component limitations has been developed. The architecture exploits millimeter-wave and SAW device technologies to design and realize the various transceiver components in low-cost, low-power monolithic and/or hybrid form