Packet reservation protocol for personal mobile communications

A packet/cell reservation protocol is proposed for operation in a GPRS environment. The operation of the protocol exploits the advantages of contending random access protocols for reservation purpose while accommodating a hybrid form of GSM and ATM systems to enable the provision of services to mobile users. The protocol provides reservation priority for voice and inter-active real-time services in a multichannel environment. The protocol also uses a voice activity detector to eliminate unused reserved time slots in any frame payload and then allocate them to other users that have a lower priority. A simulation model has been established to mimic the operation of the protocol for voice and data traffic. The results show better overall channel utilisation together with lower overall time delay for data messages.