摘要 |
Improved performance is achieved for cellular systems with an arrangement where mobile units transmit information in packet format. A base station routes received packets to switching agents identified by the packets, and the switching agents forward the information contained in the packets to a wired network. The switching agent thus forms the interface between the packet switched portion of the cellular system and the wired network, which may be a circuit switched network. The routing of packets to switching agents allows the system to dedicate one agent to each mobile unit known to the system. It also allows a mobile unit's switching agent to remain wherever it is hosted even when the mobile unit moves from cell to cell, causing different base stations to receive the mobile unit's packets. The routing of packets is achieved with a routing network, which preferably is immune to single failures. In one illustrative embodiment, the routing network comprises a mesh network that interfaces a multiply connected routing network.
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