Hand-off control technique for wireless ATM network

摘要

A handoff control process in a wireless ATM network replaces a communication connection via old base station with a new communication connection via new base station. In order to guarantee that no data is lost during the reconfigurationj process, an ATM cell level mechanism is used to re-schedule the buffering and transmitting of data streams of the virtual channels (VCs) to be handed-off. In addition, this mechanism is transparent to user applications. The present invention performs three fundamental cell level scheduling functions. The first function is to mark and redirect ATM cell transmission with operation and maintenance (OAM) cells. The second function is to disable and buffer ATM cell transmission until the new path is connected. The third function is to enable ATM cell transmission, starting with the buffered cells across the connected new path.