This paper proposes a new digital beamforming adaptive array antenna (DBFAAA) that is effective in severe multipath environments in which timing and carrier synchronization circuits cannot function ideally resulting in the DBFAAA losing control. The proposed DBFAAA has two stages. In the first, the DBFAAA captures the desired signal and establishes synchronization. In the second, the DBFAAA optimizes the beam pattern of the signal. The proposed configuration employs an eigenvector beam of the maximum eigenvalue in the first stage beam-forming. In addition, a fractionally-spaced-tapped-delay-line (FS-TDL) with real tap weights, which is placed after the beam-former, is applied to achieve timing synchronization. The behavior of the proposed DBFAAA for asynchronous sampling data is investigated and the results indicate that the proposed configuration enables asynchronous sampling at the A/D converter. A prototype of the proposed DBFAAA achieving 38-Mbps real-time data communication is introduced and the transmission performance is shown.

Efficient radio resource utilization and fairness are important goals that must be achieved since wireless ATM systems support various services with different traffic characteristics such as CBR and UBR. This paper proposes a novel delay-and-queuing data size-based MAC protocol for broadband wireless ATM. The proposed MAC protocol relies on a new resource scheduling algorithm that decides the priority of channel assignment based on both the queuing delay and the queuing data size in the transmission buffer. Simulation results confirm that the proposed MAC protocol is able to provide throughput fairness and to achieve excellent throughput performance for ATM services that experience dynamic traffic fluctuations.

The Infostation concept has been proposed to provide convenient and cost effective access to high-speed mobile data services. An efficient IP packet transmission protocol is required to compensate for the high error rate inherent to fading radio channels. In this paper, a novel link layer retransmission scheme is proposed. Using the channel state and fading state estimators, the scheme adjusts the retransmission parameters dynamically in order to achieve the optimum performance under time-varying channel conditions. A theoretical analysis is presented for the case of a random error channel. Furthermore, a simulation tool is developed for evaluating the performance of the scheme in a fading channel with various parameters. The analysis and simulation results show that this new retransmission scheme can provide substantial improvement over traditional schemes. It gives a robust performance in both slow and fast fading conditions. In addition, the algorithm's sensitivity to parameter values and channel characteristics, such as Doppler frequency and fading statistics, is investigated. A unique attribute of this algorithm and performance analysis is that throughput is evaluated in IP packets rather than in physical layer packets.

We have developed an IP-over-Ethernet-based ultra high-speed multimedia wireless LAN prototype operating in the 60-GHz band. It employs a media-access-control (MAC) protocol based on reservation-based slotted idle signal multiple access (RS-ISMA), which was implemented in the former prototype, for supporting various IP traffic such as real-time AV traffic and best-effort web traffic. The protocol also has a new function called NACK sensing for the efficient retransmission of wireless multicast packets. It was demonstrated that the prototype can provide the world's fastest radio transmission speed of 128 Mbps for two-way communications. We have measured the throughput and latency of the prototype LAN for Ethernet-frame transmission in a point-to-point baseband-connected environment. The measurement showed that the prototype LAN provides a maximum throughput of 30 Mbps, and that the measured throughput agrees with the theoretically predicted throughput. It also showed that the maximum latency, which includes switching and routing latency in the wired part, is below 1 msec.

The ATM Wireless Access (AWA) System allows portable terminals such as notebook PCs to provide up to 10Mbits/s to each user. AWA will be one of the last hops of the fiber system; it seamlessly provides wireless terminals with most of the services available in the fiber system. A prototype is developed to confirm system realization and the technical feasibility of the radio transmission rate of 80 Mbit/s, the highest yet reported in wireless access systems, by employing ATM technology to support multimedia communication with different communication quality requirements. The prototype uses TDMA as the multiple access method. This paper proposes the system concept and technical issues of the AWA system. The design and performance of the AWA prototype are clarified. It is confirmed that the target performance of the prototype can be achieved and technical issues are feasible.

In this paper, we propose a combination system of point to multipoint (P-MP) time division multiple access (TDMA) broadband wireless access (BWA) system and indoor wireless local area network (WLAN). In order to realize a high speed wireless communication, a wide bandwidth is required for both access lines and local area networks. The proposed system shares the frequency between BWA and WLAN to achieve an efficient use of frequency resources. This is based on the idea that an uplink band of the P-MP TDMA BWA system will provide relatively small interference slots, which are not used by subscriber stations nearby. In other words, there are useful small interference slots for another system using same frequency according to its position. Then we use such small interference slots for WLAN. In addition, direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) can suppress such TDMA interference by spreading it over wide bandwidth. Therefore in the proposed system, DS-CDMA is used for WLAN in the same band with the BWA uplink. We also discuss WLAN packet error rate reduction techniques for this system. To confirm the availability of the proposed system, we evaluate the system performance by numerical analysis and computer simulation.

Channel-state-dependent (CSD) radio-resource scheduling algorithms for wireless message transport using a framed ALOHA-reservation access protocol are presented. In future wireless systems that provide Mbps-class high-speed wireless links using high frequencies, burst packet errors, which last a certain number of packets in time, would cause serious performance degradation. CSD resource scheduling algorithms utilize channel-state information for increasing overall throughput. These algorithms were comparatively evaluated in terms of average allocation plus transfer delay, average throughput, variance in throughput, and utilization of resources. Computer simulation results showed that the CSD mechanism has a good effect, especially on equal sharing (ES)-based algorithms, and also CSD-ES provides low allocation plus transfer delay, high average throughput, low variance in throughput, and efficient utilization of radio resources.

In 1996, Chiu and Hsu proposed a multi-role-based access control (MRBAC) policy. Nevertheless, the Chiu-Hsu scheme can be further enforced by role list, union, and intersection (i. e. containment) to deal with the problems regarding the MRBAC and the object role with different security ranks. The author presents an improvement of the Chiu-Hsu scheme using more detailed list structure. This improvement offers some significant advantages.

We propose a device called the Waveguide width abruptly EXpanded Spot-Size-Converter integrated Laser Diode (WEX-SSC-LD) that has been designed to improve lasing characteristics by achieving a steep photoluminescence wavelength change along the cavity. The waveguide parameter was optimized by a three-dimensional beam propagation method to reduce mode conversion and absorption losses. The WEX-SSC-LD's showed superior lasing characteristics such as threshold currents of 5.8 mA at 25C and 19 mA at 85C and operation current of 57.5 mA at an output power of 10 mW for 85C. These excellent lasing characteristics were achieved due to the steeper bandgap-energy shift in the SSC section near the LD section side by introducing the WEX-SSC structure as well as the high-quality MQW active layer grown by selective MOVPE and the precisely controlled pn-pn current blocking structure. The coupling loss to normal single-mode fiber was as low as 1.8 dB while maintaining a large coupling tolerance of 1.8 µm. These excellent coupling characteristics are very promising for passively aligned optical modules.

A new computational method for evaluating the reverse-link interference distribution in a cellular CDMA system is proposed. In particular, a positive feedback effect of the reverse-link closed-loop power control has been taken into account to precisely capture a realistic effect of unequal cell loading on system capacity. It subsequently facilitates computing the frequency reuse efficiency of the cellular CDMA system under unequal cell loading.

Designing control and robotic systems as autonomous decentralized systems introduces a new degree of flexibility in the manufacturing and in the application of such systems. This flexibility is required for the systems to work in environments that are not totally predictable and that can change dynamically. In this paper, we present a new concept for real-time communication that supports this flexibility while still preserving real-time guarantees for hard real-time communication. The concept is designed to work on multiple-access busses. In particular, we consider its application on wireless local area networks and field-busses. The concept addresses requirements of hard-real time, soft real-time and non real-time communication. For this, we extend the TDMA (time- division multiple-access) approach for time-triggered hard-real time communication by the concept of shared channels that support event-triggered communication and coexist with hard real-time channels. A first implementation of concept has been carried out in the context of the CAN-bus.

We describe an index for estimating the level of interest in Web pages. This "time-based interest" (TBI) index combinates an equation reflecting page accesses and an equation reflecting the decrease in interest over time. These equations work simultaneously by using a parameter that is based on the time since the last access. We experimentally estimated the decrease ratio of the TBI index and evaluated the characteristics of the TBI equation. We found that the index follows Zipf's distribution, indicating that reflects the change in popularity. We also introduce an access-log analysis system called CyberRanking that includes TBI analysis. CyberRanking analyzes the access logs of Web servers and presents the results in 2-D or 3-D graph on a Web browser.

We have already proposed a regional PC communication network system that provides a LAN environment and group communication services to the customers. A Low-end Card (LECard) is set up in the subscriber's household and provides the popular Ethernet interface (10Base-T). A multiplex-port brouter (MBR) was developed to accommodate a lot of customers in a cost-effective manner. Ethernet packets are transferred through each subscriber channel between the LECard and the MBR using the HDLC protocol. The LECard and the MBR are controlled by the group management server (GMS) to realize the group communication system. The performance of an experimental system in ordinary use must be evaluated before bringing the system into practical use. However, it is difficult to prepare a number of PCs and to use them at the same time to evaluate the performance degradation seen in multiple-access. This paper presents a newly developed multiple-access simulator for evaluating MBR performance. The simulator connects to the MBR under test through a multiplexed signal interface. It simulates the conditions in which many LECards and PCs are connected to an MBR and they access the network at the same time. The basic function of the LECard, passing the MAC addresses of subordinate PCs to GMS, and the packet generating function of the PCs are implemented in the simulator. Ethernet packets are transmitted to all ports of the multiplexed interface. MBR throughput in the experimental system was evaluated by transmitting Ethernet packets from/to the simulator. The results show that the MBR package has a processing speed of about 4000 PPS. They also show that the degradation in user port performance is slight up to approximately 20% of the active ratio, i. e. 20% of the users access at the same time.

Coding scheme for a noisy multiple-access adder channel is proposed. When a T-user δ-decodable affine code C is given a priori, a qT-user λ δ-decodable affine code C* is produced by using a q q matrix B satisfying BA=λ Iq q, e. g. , a Hadamard matrix or a conference matrix. In particular, the case of δ=1 is considered for the practical purposes. A (2n-1)-user uniquely decodable (δ=1) affine code Cn with arbitrary code length n is recursively constructed. When Cn plays a role of C, a q(2n-1)-user λ-decodable affine code C* is obtained. The code length and the number of users of C* are more flexible than those of the Wilson's code. The total rate of the λ-decodable code in this paper tends to be higher than that of the λ-decodable code by Wilson as the number of users increases.

The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a new bearer service for GSM that greatly improves and simplifies wireless access to packet data networks, e.g., to the Internet. It applies a packet radio principle to transfer user data packets in an efficient way between mobile stations and external packet data networks. This tutorial gives an introduction to GPRS. The article discusses the system architecture and its basic functionality. It explains the offered services, the session and mobility management, the routing, the GPRS air interface including channel coding, and the GPRS protocol architecture. Finally, an interworking example between GPRS and IP networks is shown.

Medium access control (MAC) protocol is one of the key components for providing quality of service (QoS) in wireless ATM (W-ATM) networks. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical scheduling scheme coupled with fair queueing algorithms with adaptive weights. This scheme is intended to be applicable to a TDMA/TDD based MAC protocol. Specifically, the performance of the fair-queueing algorithm using fixed weights and adaptive weights is evaluated and compared. Simulation results show that the proposed hierarchical fair-queueing scheduling with adaptive weights (HAW) can yield a lower cell transfer delay and a higher channel utilization while maintaining fairness among multiple users.

This paper describes a nonblind digital beamformer for SDMA (space division multiple access) systems used when channels are power-limited. An array antenna with many elements is usually required to obtain high antenna gain for the reception of a low-level desired signal and the degree of freedom for the spatial discrimination of many users using the same frequency. The proposed beamformer is designed for such array antennas by employing the combination of a multibeam former and a maximal-ratio-combining (MRC) technique. The MRC technique is extended to a nonblind combiner that uses a training sequence contained in the desired signal. Basic analysis and numerical simulations of its performance, under the power-limited condition and with fixed user terminals, show that the speed and robustness of desired-signal acquisition and undesired-signal suppression may outperform recursive-least-squares (RLS) beamformer with less computation, when it is applied to an array antenna with many elements.

Broadband subscriber loop system and ATM switching system are the key equipment for construction of Broadband networks. In this paper, we describe the architecture of access network and the implementation of ATM switching system with multi-service interface for construction of broadband access network. We also represent the design of MAIN-AN (Multi-service Access Integrated Network--Access Node) system as integrated access network platform which enables to accommodate ATM/SDH-based and ATM/PON-based FTTx (Fiber-To-The-x) access architecture simultaneously. The system has a Cross-point ATM Switch Fabric with 10 Gbits/sec throughput and it has been implemented using 0.5 µm CMOS technology. For performance evaluation of it, we simulate it under burst traffic conditions. In addition, we show the implementation of prototype of ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), MAIN system and its core PBA (Printed circuit Board Assembly) and so on.

In this paper, we present an access scheme for packet-typed wireless networks, called DQRUMA/PAR (Distributed-Queueing Request Update Multiple Access with Periodically Automatic Reservation), which can transmit multimedia traffic efficiently. Here, we deal with three kinds of traffic i. e. voice, data and still picture. DQRUMA/PAR introduces the transmission scheme that mobile stations for voice communications reserve the transmission capacity periodically during their talkspurts. The transmission control process of DQRUMA/PAR will become easier than the one of DQRUMA, and the delay characteristic of voice is improved. Furthermore, we study two enforced protocols on DQRUMA/PAR. One is the more enforced protocol for voice communications. We call this as Voice Enforced mode (VE mode) on DQRUMA/PAR. The other is the more enforced protocol for data communications. We call this as Data Enforced mode (DE mode) on DQRUMA/PAR. The transmission delay of voice will become reduced significantly by introducing VE mode. On the other hand, the transmission delay characteristic of data will be improved by introducing DE mode. We carry out the performance comparisons of pure DQRUMA/PAR with PRMA and DQRUMA and show the considerable improvement of the protocol numerically. Next we make the performance comparisons between pure DQRUMA/PAR and two enforced modes on DQRUMA/PAR and show the considerable improvements of these enforced protocols, respectively.

This paper outlines technical trend of multimedia mobile and broadband wireless access systems utilizing comprehensive concept and new categorization of wireless access. It is pointed out that mobile communications have much potential market in future high-speed data or IP (Internet Protocol)-based traffic. Categorization of three kinds of wireless access is presented based on the definition adopted by the Radiocommunication Sector in ITU. IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications)-2000 and broadband wireless LANs (Local Area Networks) each representing mobile and nomadic wireless access will bring about a turning point to a new era that wireless communications become dominant media in access networks. With this perspective technical subjects, spectrum consideration and deployment scenario for these systems are discussed.