WIRELESS LANs: THE DECT APPROACH

This paper deals with the design and implementation of a wireless Local Area Network (LAN), called DECT LAN, providing access to a backbone wired Ethernet network. Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) standard provides only the radio interface between mobile devices and Ethernet via a base station. The DECT protocol is implemented as a combination of hardware and software components embedded in a Network Interface Card (NIC) driven by a microprocessor. The NIC is conformed to the computer industry-standard interface, i.e., PCMCIA and PCI for the mobile device and base station, respectively. The software components of the DECT protocol are designed and implemented using SDL (System Description Language). An SDL specification facilitates simulation, validation and automatic code generation using SDL support-tools, which reduces development time. Finally, some applications of DECT LAN are also described.