Although a promising new technology, the ATM standard has certain limitations for implementation into commercial products. This unique book offers a realistic, in-depth evaluation to help you better understand what the new generation of high-speed switches can and cannot deliver. The book discusses the ATM standard, including user requirements, technical challenges, current equipment limitations, and necessary ancillary components to telecommunicate. It also examines high-speed network challenges, presents the first generation of switching systems currently available as commercial products, addresses unfulfilled switching requirements, and poses possible approaches for switch design in the future. By placing this technology within a familiar context and by setting realistic expectations for ATM implementation, this book enables you to answer important questions such as...Are ATM standards mature enough to warrant investment in ATM products?; Are current ATM products fully capable of performing production tasks?; Can current ATM products be used to build multi-vendor networks?; What operational capabilities are available to manage ATM networks? This book is an excellent reference for introducing communications engineers to high-speed systems/products, helping network analysts understand the implementation issues involved in setting up an ATM network, and assisting network planners in evaluating current ATM offerings in relation to business requirements. It also gives financial analysts and industry watchers a technical and commercial background for making investment decisions.
1.Introduction: Why ATM? The State of the Standard. ATM Constituencies Today. Sources, Sinks, and the Future. 2. The ATM Standard: Cells. A Layered Protocol. Classes of Service. Signaling. Calls and Connections. Connection-oriented. Traffic Types. ATM Adaptation Layers (AAL). Addressing. Network Interfaces. 3. The Technical Challenges of High-Speed Switching I: Interoperability With Legacy Systems. Making a Connection. Multiplexing and Demultiplexing. Error Control. Latency. Data Packaging. Performance. Sequencing. Buffers and Buffering. Queues. Congestion Control and Flow Control. 4. The Technical Challenges of High-Speed Switching II: Compression. Cost. Management. Protocols and Protocol Processing. Class of Service. Security. Fault Tolerance. Chargeback. Synchronization and Timing. 5. Commercial ATM Products: Prestandard. Network Interface Cards (NICs). Plain Creative Marketing. The Management Shortfall. Your Mileage Will Vary. The Legacy of the Legacy. Presentism. Today's Switching Vendors. ATM Switch Overview. 6. ATM LAN Switches: Four Approaches to Legacy LANs. Fore Systems. The Virtual LAN Approach. The ASX-200WG (For Workgroup) ATM Switch. ForeThought. Cisco Corporation. Cisco's Lightstream 1010 Workgroup Switch. Cisco Hardware. Cisco Software. 7. ATM Access or Edge Switches: Cascade Communications Corporation. Cascade's B-STDX 9000 Switch Family. B-STDX ATM Mode. B-STDX FR Mode. B-STDX SMDS Mode. Newbridge Networks Corporation. Newbridge 36150 Access Switch. 8. ATM WAN Access Products: ATM CSUs/DSUs. ATM Inverse Multiplexers (AIMs). ATM Service Multiplexers. ADC Kentrox. ADC Kentrox Datasmart T3 ATM Data Service UNIT (ADSU). ADC Kentrox T1/E1 ATM Access Concentrator (AAC-1). ADC Kentrox Multismart SNMP Agency (MSA). Digital Link Corporation. DL3200 SMDS/ATM Digital Service Interface. W/ATM Premiseway ATM Service Access Multiplexer. 9. Large ATM Switches: Nortel and the Magellan Family. Voice Networking. Magellan Multiple Priority System (MPS). Nortel's Concorde ATM Switch. Fujitsu Corporation. Fujitsu's FETEX-150 ESP. Design Objectives. Technical Description. Marking the FETEX-150. Video Server/the North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH). Frame Relay/NYNEX. Cell Relay/Bay Networks. 10. The ATM Prognosis: The Anchorage Accord. Fast Ethernet and the Promise of a Gigabit Ethernet. Standards, the Forum, and the Marketplace. The Longer Term.
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Edwin R. Coover
Edwin R. Coover is a lead engineer for MITRE Corporation, McLean, Virginia. He earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Minnesota, and is a member of both the IEEE and ACM.