Cell hopping: a lightweight architecture for wireless communications

We propose a novel lightweight cellular wireless network architecture called cell hopping. Unlike traditional cellular networks, cell hopping has base stations interconnected by wireless inter-base station links, WIBLs. WIBLs support all routing and switching in cell hopping networks, obviating the need for costly core networks (or a costly switching infrastructure). Cell hopping utilizes an unlicensed frequency and presents a low-cost, rapidly deployable solution for mobile communications. We discuss various technical challenges that must be addressed before cell hopping can become a reality. In particular, we concentrate on location management. We propose an on-demand location management technique that completely eliminates the need for location databases and periodic updates by mobile stations. We provide a few variations of the location management scheme, and compare their performance through simulation.