Integration of Broadband and Broadcasting Wireless Technologies at the UMTS Radio Access Level

The UMTS radio resources are insufficient to support services that demand high bandwidth. Integration of heterogeneous wireless access systems into UMTS may be a way to overcome this problem. In the market, there are different wireless technologies, ranging from those that provide high and cheap bandwidth to those specially tailored for mass multimedia services. In this paper, we address the integration of broadband and broadcasting technologies at the UMTS radio access level. More specifically, we discuss benefits of such integration for mobile operators and present necessary architectural and protocol modifications to the UMTS network.