Wireless communications, which stand at the forefront of the technological revolution, comprise nowadays a multiplicity of radio access technologies. However, the distinctive communication capabilities of these technologies present unsurmountable barriers for interoperation and migration between one other’s incumbent networking infrastructures. By “interoperation”, we mean the unconstrained information exchange between different communication systems, which is increasingly adopting the all-IP converged backplane architecture for global telecommunication integrations. By “migration”, we mean the penetration of one communication technology into the infrastructure of another, such as replacing a CDMA network base station with a totally different GSM standard without changing the deployed CDMA network infrastructure. We refer to the capabilities of“interoperation” and “migration” as the capability of assimilation in analogy to the human ability to carry multiple languages and cultures. We address the assimilation needs, challenges and approaches in communication networks in this project.

In communication networks, the assimilation capabilities are as important as those shown in the human societies. The next generation wireless communication systems require to support multiple wireless communication standards. The omnipotent communication capability in an assimilated network infrastructure is crucial in connecting with the diversity of user communication devices and coping with unexpected disruptions to the networks. In this project, we explore the means to provide the capability of assimilating different communication technologies on the base stations of network service providers.

The protocols that we study currently include:

•   UMTS-TDD
•   GPRS
•   WiFi (IEEE 802.11)
•   WiMAX (IEEE 802.16)

The project was successfully closed on August, 2010. Final reports are available in the following links.