A Modular Approach for the Development of a Reconfigurable Access Network Architecture

The existence of numerous competing mobile standards forces network operators and subscribers to either upgrade or purchase new mobile equipment whenever new standards are developed. This is an inherent weakness within the standards development methodology. The reconfigurability concept attempts to solve this problem by providing the means to implement or update multiple mobile communication standards on generic hardware platforms through the use of software. However, currently there is no existing standard that defines generic software architecture for all radio access technologies. The purpose of this paper is propose the development of such a system. To ensure that the proposed architecture is developed correctly, a series of basic underlying principles have been identified and the tasks that still need to be completed have been identified.