POSTMAN: Polling-Based Scheduling Strategy for Multiple Access Control in Wireless ATM Networks

In this paper, we propose a polling-based scheduling strategy for multiple access control in wireless ATM networks (POSTMAN). A pure centrally controlled polling scheme is adopted in our protocol, therefore no contention channel is needed. The POSTMAN protocol assumes a TDMA/TDD frame format, by which wireless bandwidth is allocated flexibly both among multiple mobile terminals and between downlink and uplink channels. When polling the uplink traffic, the POSTMAN needs no priori traffic model to predict the cell arrivals. Instead, a token queue and an ABR buffer status table are used in the base station. Simulation results show that the POSTMAN protocol is robust in most cases and can work steadily under very high network load conditions. key words: wireless ATM, MAC, polling, TDMA/TDD