Designing protocols for a fully dynamic wireless packet switched networks pose unique challenges due to the constantly changing topology of the network. A set of protocols is presented that are capable of handling a fully dynamic wireless network in which switching centers and base stations are mobile as well as the end users. The protocols provide basic message delivery, network routing information updates, and support for reliable multicasting.

There are four contributions of this work: (i) a hierarchical architecture for a fully dynamic wireless network, (ii) improved routing and update protocols with reduced control traffic, (iii) a method to provide reliable multicasting in a wireless environment that is near optimal in terms of the number of messages sent, and (iv) a set of load balancing algorithms that allow the network to autonomously and dynamically reconfigure the network topology to even out the load on the base stations.

A detailed simulation of the protocols is developed and exercised to evaluate the performance of the protocols. For point to point delivery, the protocols successfully deliver all packets even when the rate of motion of the terminals causes more than 1/2 of them to be in a transitional state at any time. The results are similar for base station.