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What Is The Use of Asynchronous Transfer Mode Switching (ATM) ?

ATM uses fixed-sized cells and dedicated hardware switches to establish connections directly between endpoints for transferring data. It is commonly used in telco and campus backbone networks to carry integrated data, voice, and video. ATM networks consist of ATM switches connected by point-to-point links that route cells based on header information identifying the virtual connections between source and destination endpoints.

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Abdullah Abbas
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114 views4 pages

What Is The Use of Asynchronous Transfer Mode Switching (ATM) ?

ATM uses fixed-sized cells and dedicated hardware switches to establish connections directly between endpoints for transferring data. It is commonly used in telco and campus backbone networks to carry integrated data, voice, and video. ATM networks consist of ATM switches connected by point-to-point links that route cells based on header information identifying the virtual connections between source and destination endpoints.

Uploaded by

Abdullah Abbas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is the use of Asynchronous Transfer Mode Switching

(ATM)?
Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is a switching technique used by
telecommunication networks that uses asynchronous time-division multiplexing to
encode data into small, fixed-sized cells. This is different from Ethernet or internet,
which use variable packet sizes for data or frames. ATM uses zero routing. Instead of
using software, dedicated hardware devices known as ATM switches establish point-to-
point connections between endpoints, and data flows directly from source to destination.
Ethernet and Internet Protocol (IP) use variable-length packets. ATM uses fixed-sized
cells to encode data.

o ATM as a Backbone Technology:

ATM stands for Asynchronous Transfer Mode, is a high-speed, broadband transmission


data communication technology based on packet switching, which is used by telcos,
long distance carriers, and campus-wide backbone networks to carry integrated data,
voice, and video information.

o ATM Devices:
An ATM network is made up of an ATM switch and ATM endpoints. An ATM switch is
responsible for cell transit through an ATM network. The job of an ATM switch is well defined. It
accepts the incoming cell from an ATM endpoint or another ATM switch. It then reads and
updates the cell header information and quickly switches the cell to an output interface
towards its destination. An ATM endpoint (or end system) contains an ATM network interface
adapter. Examples of ATM endpoints are workstations, routers, digital service units (DSUs), LAN
switches, and video coder-decoders (Codec’s).

o ATM Network Interfaces:


An ATM network consists of a set of ATM switches interconnected by point-to-point ATM links
or interfaces. ATM switches support two primary types of interfaces: UNI and NNI as shown in
Fig. 4.6.3. The UNI (User-Network Interface) connects ATM end systems (such as hosts and
routers) to an ATM switch. The NNI (Network-Network Interface) connects two ATM switches.
Depending on whether the switch is owned and located at the customer's premises or is
publicly owned and operated by the telephone company, UNI and NNI can be further
subdivided into public and private UNIs and NNIs. A private UNI connects an ATM endpoint and
a private ATM switch. Its public counterpart connects an ATM endpoint or private switch to a
public switch. A private NNI connects two ATM switches within the same private organization. A
public one connects two ATM switches within the same public organization.
o ATM Cell Header Format:
ATM transfers information in fixed-size units called cells. Each cell consists of 53 octets, or
bytes. The first 5 bytes contain cell-header information, and the remaining 48 contain the
payload (user information). Small, fixed-length cells are well suited to transfer voice and video
traffic because such traffic is intolerant to delays that result from having to wait for a large data
packet to download, among other things.
An ATM cell header can be one of two formats: UNI or NNI. The UNI header is used for
communication between ATM endpoints and ATM switches in private ATM networks. The NNI
header is used for communication between ATM switches. Depicts the ATM UNI cell header
format, and the ATM NNI cell header format. Unlike the UNI, the NNI header does not include
the Generic Flow Control (GFC) field. Additionally, the NNI header has a Virtual Path Identifier
(VPI) field that occupies the first 12 bits, allowing for larger trunks between public ATM
switches.

o ATM Services:

PVC:
PVC is a virtual circuit which is available permanently. It is a type of virtual circuit
where the end points do not signal the circuit. The virtual circuit values are manual. The
route through the network, link-by-link is also manual. If the equipment happens to fail,
the PVC also fails, and the physical network has to re-route. The permanent virtual
circuit is an efficient circuit for hosts which have to communicate frequently like ATMs.
SVC:
SVC has to re-establish the connection every time the data has to be sent. It is a circuit
established by UNI. It is basically a demand connection; the connection is initiated by
the user. When the switch fails, the SVC fails, and the connection needs to be re-
established.

o ATM Virtual Connections (Virtual Paths, Circuits):


ATM standard defines two types of ATM connections: virtual path connections (VPCs), which
contain virtual channel connections (VCCs) . A virtual channel connection (or virtual circuit) is
the basic unit, which carries a single stream of cells, in order, from user to user. A collection of
virtual circuits can be bundled together into a virtual path connection. A virtual path connection
can be created from end-to-end across an ATM network. In this case, the ATM network does
not route cells belonging to a particular virtual circuit. All cells belonging to a particular virtual
path are routed the same way through the ATM network, thus resulting in faster recovery in
case of major failures. In this case, all the switches within the ATM network are only VP
switches, i.e. they switch the cells only on the basis of VPIs. Only the switches, which are
connected to the subscribers are VP/VC switches, i.e. they use both VPIs and VCIs to switch the
cell. This configuration is usually followed so that the intermediate switches can do switching
much faster.
o ATM Reference Model:
The ATM architecture uses a logical model to describe the functionality that it supports. ATM
functionality corresponds to the physical layer and part of the data link layer of the OSI reference
model.
The ATM reference model, as shown in Fig. 4.6.9, consists of the following planes, which span
all layers:
Control:
This plane is responsible for generating and managing signaling requests.
User:
This plane is responsible for managing the transfer of data.

o ATM Classes of Service (CBR, VBR, ABR, UBR):


Constant Bit Rate (CBR):
The CBR service category is used for connections that transport traffic at a constant bit
rate, where there is an inherent reliance on time synchronisation between
the traffic source and destination.

Unspecified Bit Rate(UBR):


UBR may refer to: Unspecified Bit Rate, a traffic contract used to guarantee quality of
service for networks.

Available bit rate (ABR):


Available bit rate (ABR) is a service used in ATM networks when source and
destination don't need to be synchronized. ABR does not guarantee against delay or
data loss. ... RM-cells are generated by the source and travel along the data path to the
destination and sent back.

Variable bit rate–real time (VBR–RT) :


This class is similar to VBR–NRT but is designed for applications that are sensitive to cell-delay
variation. Examples for real-time VBR are voice with speech activity detection (SAD) and
interactive compressed video.
Variable Bit Rate - non-real time (VBR–NRT) :
This class allows users to send traffic at a rate that varies with time depending on the availability
of user information. Statistical multiplexing is provided to make optimum use of network
resources. Multimedia e-mail is an example of VBR–NRT.

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