An Integrated AP for Seamless Interworking of Existing WMAN and WLAN Standards

Broadband Fixed Wireless Access (BFWA) systems represent a potential technological foundation for the Fourth Generation of Wireless Mobile Communication Systems (4G) as they can replace wired broadband and, with sufficient widespreading deployment, can significantly cut into the usage of cellular networks in many areas. In this context, the seamless interworking of Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies is an efficient solution to provide the indoor extension of BFWA systems coverage, which would largely contribute to their success and penetration in the market. In this paper, we introduce a novel Access Point (AP), called WMAN/WLAN AP (WWAP), which essentially integrates in a compact device a WMAN Subscriber Station (SS) and a WLAN AP in order to extend the WMAN coverage in-house and to guarantee the end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS). Besides the technical features, the market trends and the usage scenarios where the WWAP might be a cost-effective and a very efficient solution are outlined. Finally, simulation results are carried out in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed AP. Simone Frattasi was born in Rome, Italy, on December 13, 1977. He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy, in 2001 and 2002, respectively. He has been employed by the University of Aalborg, Denmark, in the Wireless Networking Group (WING) as Research engineer (2002–2004), working on the IST-STRIKE (Spectrally Efficient Fixed Wireless Network based on Dual Standards) and VeRT (Vehicular Remote Tolling) projects. He is currently a Ph.D. student in the Center for TeleInFrastruktur (CTIF), Aalborg University, working on the JADE (Joint Advanced Development Enabling 4G) project, a joint cooperation of CTIF and SAMSUNG. His research interests mainly concern the Fourth Generation of Wireless Mobile Communication Systems (4G), in particular, heterogeneous services and architectures, clustering algorithms and MAC protocols related to the issues of cooperation and relaying in cellular extended short-range communication systems, hybrid and cooperative location techniques, QoS and ARQ/HARQ. Ernestina Cianca graduated cum laude in Electronics Engineering in 1997 at the University of L'Aquila. She was Italtel/Siemens (L'Aquila) from 1997 to 1998. She got her Ph.D. degree from the University of Rome Tor Vergata (URTV). The thesis work was on power management in CDMA-based satellite systems. She has been employed by the University of Aalborg, Denmark, in the Wireless Networking Group (WING), as Research engineer (2000–2001) and as Assistant Professor (2001–2003). She is currently Assistant Professor in Telecommunications at the URTV (Department of Electronics Engineering), teaching DSP, Information and Coding. Her research mainly concerns wireless access technologies (CDMA and MIMO-OFDM-based systems), in particular, Radio Resource Management at PHY/MAC layer, ARQ/HARQ, TCP-IP issues over wireless links, integration of terrestrial and satellite systems. She has been the vice-coordinator of the following national research programs: CABIS, on CDMA integrated mobile systems (2000–2002) and SHINES, on satellite-HAP integrated networks for multimedia applications co-financed by MIUR (2002–2004). She is currently working on various European Projects. She is author of about 40 papers, on international journals/transactions and proceedings of international conferences. Ramjee Prasad was born in Babhnaur (Gaya), Bihar, India, on July 1, 1946. He is now a Dutch Citizen. He received his B.Sc. (Eng) degree from Bihar Institute of Technology, Sindri, India, and his M.Sc. (Eng) and Ph.D. degrees from Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Ranchi, India, in 1968, 1970 and 1979, respectively. Since June 1999, Dr. Prasad has been with Aalborg University, where currently he is Director of the Center for TeleInFrastruktur (CTIF), and holds the chair of wireless information and multimedia communications. He is the coordinator of the European Commission Sixth Framework Integrated Project MAGNET (My personal Adaptive Global NET). He was involved in the European ACTS project FRAMES (Future Radio Wideband Multiple Access Systems) as a DUT project leader. He is a project leader of several international, industrially funded projects. He has published over 500 technical papers, contributed to several books, and has authored, coauthored, and edited eleven books. He has served as a member of advisory and program committees of several IEEE international conferences. In addition, Dr. Prasad is the coordinating editor and editor-in-chief of the Kluwer International Journal on Wireless Personal Communications and a member of the editorial board of other international journals, including the IEEE Communications Magazine and IEE Electronics Communication Engineering Journal. Dr. Prasad is also the founding chairman of the European Center of Excellence in Telecommunications, known as HERMES. He is a fellow of IEE, a fellow of IETE, a senior member of IEEE, a member of The Netherlands Electronics and Radio Society (NERG), and a member of IDA (Engineering Society in Denmark). Dr. Prasad is the advisor of several multinational companies.