Mode switching and QoS issues in software radio

Software radio technology is expected to play a key role in the development of future (4G) wireless communication systems. Several third-generation wireless standards are emerging across the world as part of the ITU IMT-2000 family, as well as other broadband wireless networks such as HIPERLAN2. Mobile users face the prospect of an even greater service differentiation as multimedia services are added to the voice services already available. The failure to agree, worldwide, on a unique radio access mode, for economic and political reasons, is forcing the telecommunications community to develop a reconfigurable user terminal and a telecommunications infrastructure to support it. Such a concept will allow the user to roam across geographic areas offering radio access connections using differing standards. This article, based on the work of the European Union research project TRUST, presents novel ideas and solutions within the topic area of mode switching and QoS to realize such a universal, reconfigurable system.