Improved mode identification and monitoring for reconfigurable radio systems
Reconfigurable radio systems and networks are the next step forward in mobile and wireless communication. Such terminals will offer greater flexibility to users, supporting all kinds of radio systems from paging and cellular to terrestrial and satellite. The research underway aims to provide network connectivity and services to users when they are required using alternative mode identification and monitoring. In order to enable mode selection in reconfigurable radio terminals it is first necessary to identify which modes are available to the terminal. Research is concentrated on the evaluation of user needs as well as defining the requirements of the system. Radio software systems are being investigated to allow the development of system sharing techniques and multi mode monitoring. Research has been focused on the cooperative mode monitoring solution, or CoMM. This concept is based on the theory that it is simpler to obtain an idea of coverage in alternative modes by "asking" terminals already operating in that mode for their measurements, or by extrapolating from measurements taken by terminals in that location. This is achieved by considering the area around a terminal. For a specific region around a terminal, a second roaming terminal observes the same received signal strength measurement. By considering a minimal set of these regions, the minimal number of terminals required to cover a cell can be concluded. Subsequently the number of donor terminals required to give adequate coverage to existing systems can be found. Although approximate, the minimal number of terminals required is found to be well within the bounds of possible user densities. It would also remove the need to perform alternative mode monitoring. Users would therefore be provided with a more efficient software system.
