Multimedia transport in next-generation personal communication networks

A discussion of issues related to the support of multimedia traffic in next-generation personal communication networks (PCNs) is presented. Broadband integrated services digital network/asynchronous transfer mode (B-ISDN/ATM) compatibility is proposed as a basis for next-generation PCN transport architectures. This implies that a multimedia-capable PCN should support ATM-type cell switching of constant bit-rate (CBR) and variable bit-rate (VBR) services, both real-time and non real-time. Media access control (MAC) protocol selection for such a multimedia traffic scenario is discussed, and specific technical issues related to alternative time division multiple access (TDMA) and code division multiple access (CDMA) approaches are identified. An example demand assigned TDMA protocol is considered in further detail, with particular focus on a traffic mix consisting of CBR voice and VBR data with real-time constraints (e.g., compressed video). Simulation models are used to provide illustrative performance results