Wireless ATM: current standards and issues

Wireless ATM is a framework that extends a wired backbone network with the flexibility of wireless access and mobility support. The technology has been actively studied over the last couple of years by R&D groups as well as standards organizations worldwide. Standardization efforts of WATM have been lead by the ATM Forum and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The first draft of WATM specification has been released by the ATM Forum. We present an update on the status of WATM standards. Then we address the main technical issues in the specification of a wireless ATM network, namely data link control, medium access control, wireless control, and mobility management.