AWACS: ATM wireless access system—potential candidate for European HIPERLINK standard

Wireless ATM is receiving a significant attention as a solution for wireless access. The integration of wireless access and ATM is an essential requirement for the future of telecommunications so that emerging wideband services which embody multimedia applications can be made transparently available to mobile terminals. There are many ongoing activities within the European ACTS program (Advanced Communications Technologies and Services) which are related to evolving ATM oriented wireless networks at various frequencies such as 5, 17, 40 and 60 GHz. AWACS (ATM Wireless Access Communication System) is one of these projects and addresses the feasibility of low cost, high-data-rate radio LAN systems based on ATM (both indoor and outdoor) at 19 GHz. This article overviews the AWACS project which has contributed to the definition of emerging European radio LAN standards such as ETSI BRAN HIPERLINK.