Multimode Terminals for the MBS

Eliseu Macedo1, Massimo Barbieri 2, Francesco Delli Priscoli 3, Stefan Wolters 4

1
Instituto de Telecomunicaes (CET), Campus Universitrio, 3810 Aveiro Portugal
2
Alenia Aerospazio Space Division, Via G.V. Bona 85, 00156 Rome, Italy
3
University of Rome "La Sapienza", Dep. di Informatica e Sistemistica (DIS), Via Eudossiana 18, 00184
Rome, Italy
4
IMST GmbH, Carl-Friedrich-Gauss-Str. 2, 47475 Kamp-Lintfort - Germany

Abstract
As the new century approaches, multimedia services such as videoconferencing, teleworking, telemedicine and
desktop videotelephony are more and more in demand. Access to such services would be required in a wide
range of environments, indoor and outdoor. ACTS348 Project ACCORD (ACTS Broadband-Communication
Inter-jOint tRials and Demonstrations) will bring together the major findings of some projects, strategically
selected, in order to investigate the possibility to create a Global Mobile Broadband communication system
consisting of multiple (satellite/terrestrial) system components with different characteristics which are mutually
complemented. For realising this, a Multimode Broadband Terminal will have to be developed, in order to
achieve communication in more than one systems coverage area.

The ACCORD concept

The focus of ACCORD is to propose and demonstrate a viable network architecture which takes the concept
of UMTS network further, by incorporating high data rate multimedia broadband terrestrial (indoor and
outdoor) and satellite communications into consideration. More precisely, the concept of ACCORD
addresses issues related to the fourth generation broadband communications systems capable of supporting a
wide range of applications with data rates which extend far beyond that of the UMTS.
The ACCORD project receives contributions from four on-going ACTS projects:

SECOMS, tailored to a GEO Satellite environment;

SAMBA, a Cellular wireless ATM system dedicated to outdoor and indoor environments;
MEDIAN, meant for indoor environments where broadband communications are needed;
EXODUS, being the Broadband Core Network that interconnects the access systems, implementing
Intelligent Network functionalities and having also its own wireless access (DECT).

These access systems have all different radio interfaces, available data rates and coverage. A broadband user
can take several advantages by having the possibility to achieve communication trough more than one system
- hereafter called segment.

Coverage Global Mobility

Rural

ACCORD
Suburban SECOMS ACCORD
target system
target system

Urban
MBS
EXODUS MBS EXODUS SAMBA
SAMBA SECOMS
Indoor
MEDIAN MEDIAN
MEDIAN
Data Rate Data Rate

32 kbit/s 512 kbits/s 2 Mbit/s 34 Mbit/s 150 Mbit/s 32 kbit/s 512 kbits/s 2 Mbit/s 34 Mbit/s 150 Mbit/s

Figure 1: Relationship between coverage, mobility and data rates of the ACCORD access systems
The mobility will be enhanced from indoor to outdoor environments, both in urban as in open field sites. But,
even if the user does not need such mobility facilities, the ACCORD target system can provide him with a
multiple choice in terms of available data rate from which he can choose the best suitable one for his services
requirements.

The Core Network

The EXODUS Network is targeted to a step beyond current UMTS vision in a scenario that includes in a
single system not only mobile network but also broadband network features in a more harmonised and
efficient way. This will be the platform used in ACCORD to interconnect all segments. The segments Base
Stations are linked to an ATM based IN Service Switching Point (SSP), which in turn is linked to an IN
Service Control Point (SCP) see figure 2.

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Figure 2: Interconnection of the ACCORD segments to the Core Network

Mobility Management procedures already designed in the framework of EXODUS take place between the
SCP and the EXODUS terminal. The relevant messages to these protocols are encapsulated in the FACILITY
message of the Q.2932 protocols. The following Mobility Management Procedures (MMPs) are supported by
the EXODUS Core Network:
MMP Location Registration: this procedure is used to register the UT and the first user;
MMP User Registration: this procedure is used to register a subsequent user on a terminal which has
already performed the Location Registration;
MMP User Deregistration: this procedure is used to deregister an user; when the last user is deregistered,
the UT is deregistered as well;
MMP Location Deregistration: this procedure is used to deregister all users, as well as the UT;

MMP Location Update: this procedure is used to update the location area and is triggered by the UT
whenever it changes location area (i.e. point of attachment).

The above mentioned MMPs have to be enhanced in the framework of the ACCORD project to cope with the
multi-mode terminal case. These enhanced procedures are the MMP+. So for instance the MMP+ location
update procedure is the enhanced MMP location update procedure and will be designed in the framework of
the ACCORD project.
The Multimode Terminal
A key issue, which facilitates terminal integration, is the fact that SECOMS, MEDIAN, EXODUS and
SAMBA terminals have all been implemented following the same approach. In all the above projects the
terminal consists of two parts:
a segment specific terminal part
and a standard (commercially available) ATM User Terminal (ATM UT).

The segment specific terminal part is named Satellite Terminal (SaT) in the SECOMS project, Portable
Radio Part (PRP) in the MEDIAN project and Mobile Terminal Adapter (MTA) in the SAMBA project. In all
projects the interface between the two above-mentioned terminal parts is the standard ATM UNI interface.
The architecture of the multi-mode terminal for ACCORD target system is shown in Figure 3 in which the
access systems signalling are internal and independent of identical UNI/MB-UNI interfaces provided end-to-
end, i.e. UT-EXODUS core network. In other words, EXODUS/ATM signalling application are transparently
transferred between generic UT and ATM based core network, via any of the access systems, i.e. SECOMS,
SAMBA or MEDIAN.

Segment-Specific Enhanced
air interface ATM UNI
Interface

(MB-UNI)
Enhanced EXODUS EXODUS
Node IN Node IN
ATM UNI
functions functions
Interface
SECOMS SaT SECOMS Specific (SCP) (SCP)
(MB-UNI)
Base Station

ACCORD MEDIAN PRP MEDIAN Specific EXODUS EXODUS

Inter Base Station Core Core Fixed
ATM User
Segment Network Network Broadband
Terminal
IWU Enhanced Enhanced Terminal
SAMBA MTA SAMBA Specific ATM Node ATM Node
Base Station (SSP) (SSP)

EXODUS Specific
Terminal EXODUS Specific
Base Station

ACCORD Multi-mode Terminal EXODUS ATM based Core Network

Figure 3: ACCORD Multimode terminal architecture in the Target System

According to this approach, the ATM User Terminal talks to the SCP according to an enhanced version of the
Mobility Management Procedures. As the EXODUS MMP messages, also the MMP+ messages have to be
encapsulated in the Q.2932 FACILITY message and are transparently carried over the four specific segments.
In principle three types of terminals could be considered, corresponding to three steps of a foreseen evolution
path, which differ mainly from the requirements related to the ACCORD Inter-Segment IWU:
1. A multi-mode terminal capable of handling only one segment at a time with manual or automatic segment
change. In this type of terminal handover between modes would not be possible and also location
updating between different segments should be performed manually. The ACCORD Inter- Segment IWU
is not required.
2. A multi-mode terminal capable of simultaneously handling more than one segment: one in active mode
and the other ones in inactive mode. While one segment-specific terminal is active, the other ones could
be on the watch to detect the availability of the other segments. Hence, traffic just passes on one segment
at a time. In this type of terminal location updating within each system and also handover between modes
could be performed. Even if all the Exodus procedures are kept unchanged, it is necessary to introduce
some ACCORD Inter-Segment IWU functionalities.
3. An advanced multi-mode terminal capable of handling all segments at the same time with the segments
being in active mode. There could be more than one active traffic streams, e.g. one for speech through a
certain segment and an other for data transmission through another segment, subject to availability of
simultaneous coverage. The location updating and handover also would be performed between two
modes. An attractive feature of this type of terminal would be service mobility between modes by means
of initiating a service in one mode then handing over the service to a more suitable segment (in terms of
system capability and application) which, in the meanwhile becomes available. Another attractive feature
is the segment selection on a connection-by-connection basis determined by the connection QoS
parameters/characteristics. It is necessary to design an intelligent ACCORD Inter- Segment IWU.

The ACCORD IWU

In the second and third type of ACCORD Multi-mode terminal a key role is played by the ACCORD Inter-
segment Inter-Working Unit (IWU), which is the functional block that interfaces the UT and the segment-
specific terminals. The ACCORD Inter-segment IWU is expected to perform the following fundamental
tasks:
to access appropriate signals/buffers of the various segment-specific terminals, in order to obtain
appropriate data relevant to the four segments (see figure 4);
to access the UT in order to trigger appropriate MMP+ ;
to elaborate the data obtained from the segment-specific terminals according to its specific logic: the
results can be the decisions to trigger appropriate MMP+.
to switch the ATM cells received from the UT towards the selected segment-specific terminal and to
forward the ATM cells received from the segment-specific terminal to the UT. In this respect, the
ACCORD Inter-segment IWU should be in charge of selecting the most appropriate segment in case of
mobile originated calls.

ATM User Terminal (UT)

Triggering of appropriate MMP+

ACCORD Inter Segment IWU

Appropriate data obtained

SECOMS SaT MEDIAN PRP from the segmentspecific
procedures

SAMBA MTA EXODUS Terminal

Figure 4: ACCORD Inter-segment IWU concept

ACCORD approach to personal and terminal mobility handling

A two-layer approach is foreseen: the lower layer consists of the segment-specific mobility procedures, the
upper layer consists of the Enhanced Mobility Protocols - MMP+.
Both MMP+ handled location areas and segment-specific location areas exist. The former are the enhanced
version of the MMP location areas already foreseen in the EXODUS project. The latter are the ones already
designed in the segments (SECOMS and SAMBA) which foresee terminal mobility.
It is important to stress that MMP+ location area can be viewed as functional areas of a higher hierarchical
level with respect to the segment specific location areas. As a matter of fact, an MMP+ location area includes
a certain number of segment-specific location areas; however, a certain MMP+ location area includes
segment-specific location areas all belonging to the same segment. This means that we can talk about
MEDIAN MMP+ location areas, SECOMS MMP+ location areas, EXODUS MMP+ location areas, and
SAMBA MMP+ location areas.

Conclusions
Several ACTS projects are now well in the way regarding the development of more advanced broadband
mobile networks. Bringing together the breakthroughs of some of these projects is essential in order to think
not only in terms of a single network, but rather in terms of a global network that will make possible to have
broadband communications in a more wide range of environments. Hence the importance of the development
of new types of terminals, the multimode terminals for the Mobile Broadband System.
Studying the feasibility of such an endeavour is one of the major goals of ACCORD. This joint effort is a
facilitated task when the projects involved follow a similar approach to their specific terminals. The role of
the Core Network implemented is also very important, as the upper layer multimode terminal mobility
management functions lie on this side. Three steps are foreseen for the evolution of the multimode terminal,
which correspond to three different degrees of the Inter-Segment IWU requirements. The requirements of the
IWU are thus another important issue to which the ACCORD project is devoted.
Through all of this, it is expected to gain the essential know-how that can open the way toward the multimode
terminal for the mobile broadband user.

References
[1] M. Barbieri, G. Losquadro, The Mobile Broadband System: Complementing the Satellite with
Terrestrial Components for the Provision of an Anytime and Anywhere Service, 4 th Ka-band
Utilisation Conference, Venice Nov98.