ATM

18.1
 ATM

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is the cell relay

protocol designed by the ATM Forum and adopted by
the ITU-T.

18.2
 Design Goals
 Need for a transmission system  high-
data-rate transmission media
 interface with existing systems and
provide wide-area interconnectivity
 Inexpensively
 work with and support the existing
telecommunications hierarchies
 connection-oriented

18.3
 Design Goals (Continue…)
 move as many of the functions to
hardware as possible (for speed) and
eliminate as many software functions as
possible (again for speed).

18.4
 Problem with existing system
 Frame Networks
 Before ATM  communication based on
switching of frame
 Different protocol
 Different frame size
 Result  complex structure
 Header size increases
 In Response  new protocol data field
increases  wastage of space when no data
 Variable frame size
18.5
 Continue…

 Mixed Network Traffic

 variety of frame sizes makes traffic
unpredictable
 header information must be read  to
ensure the integrity of every frame
 Internetworking  difficult

18.6
 Figure 1 Multiplexing using different frame sizes

18.7
 Continue…
 Cell Networks
 frame internetworking are solved
 A cell is a small data unit of fixed size.
 basic unit of data exchange
 frames of different sizes  reach the cell
network  split into equal length and are
loaded into cells
 cells are then multiplexed with other cells
 handle real-time transmissions, such as a
phone call
18.8
 Note

A cell network uses the cell as the basic

unit of data exchange.
A cell is defined as a small, fixed-size
block of information.

18.9
 Figure 2 Multiplexing using cells

18.10
 Continue…
 Asynchronous TDM
 multiplex cells coming from different channels
 uses fixed-size slots (size of a cell)
 fill a slot with a cell from any input channel
 slot is empty if none of the channels has a cell
to send

18.11
 Figure 3 ATM multiplexing

18.12
 Architecture
 User  end points
 UNI  user-to-network interface
 NNI  network-to-network interfaces

18.13
 Figure 4 Architecture of an ATM network

18.14
 Virtual Connection
 A transmission path (TP)  physical
connection (wire, cable, satellite, and so
on)  between an endpoint and a switch
or between two switches
 Cell networks are based on virtual circuits
(VCs).
 cells belonging to a single message follow
the same virtual circuit and remain in their
original order until they reach their
destination.
18.15
 Figure 5 TP, VPs, and VCs

18.16
 Figure 6 Example of VPs and VCs

18.17
 Note

Note that a virtual connection is defined

by a pair of numbers:
the VPI and the VCI.

18.18
 Identifier
 VPI - Virtual path identifier
 Defines specific VP
 VPI same for VCs that are bundled
 VCI - Virtual circuit identifier
 Defines particular VC inside VP

18.19
 Figure 7 Connection identifiers

18.20
 Figure 8 Virtual connection identifiers in UNIs and NNIs

18.21
 Identifier
 switches in a typical ATM network are
routed using VPIs.
 switches at the boundaries of the
network, those that interact directly with
the endpoint devices, use both VPIs and
VCIs.

18.22
 Figure 9 An ATM cell

18.23
 Connection Establishment and
Release
 ATM uses two types of connections:
 PVC - permanent virtual-circuit connection
 established between two endpoints by the network
provider
 SVC - switched virtual-circuit connection
 Each time a new virtual circuit must be established
 ATM Can’t do itself
 depends on the network layer protocol

18.24
 Figure 10 Routing with a switch

18.25
 ATM Layers

 Three layers
 Application adaptation layer
 ATM layer
 physical layer
 Endpoint  All three layers
 Switches  bottom two layers

18.26
 Figure 11 ATM layers

18.27
 Figure 12 ATM layers in endpoint devices and switches

18.28
 ATM Layers

 Physical layer
 Like Ethernet and wireless LANs, ATM cells
can be carried by any physical layer carrier.

18.29
 ATM Layers

 ATM layer
 routing,
 traffic management,
 switching,
 Multiplexing
 AAL  48 byte segment  ATM  53
byte (48 byte + 5 byte header)

18.30
 Figure 13 ATM layer

18.31
 Figure 14 ATM headers

18.32
 ATM headers

 Generic flow control (GFC)  4 bit 

Flow control  UNI level
 Virtual path identifier (VPI)
 8-bit field in a UNI cell
 12-bit field in an NNI cell
 Virtual circuit identifier (VCI)  16 bit in
both
 Payload type (PT)  3 bit
18.33
 ATM headers (Continue..)

 Cell loss priority (CLP)

 1 bit
 For congestion control
 Header error correction (HEC)
 computed for the first 4 bytes of the header
 CRC with divisor x^8 + x^2 + x + 1
 correct single-bit errors and a large class of
multiple-bit errors

18.34
 Application Adaptation Layer

 To enable two ATM concepts

1. ATM must accept any type of payload,
both data frames and streams of bits
 Frames  from upper layer
 Bit stream  chunks  encapsulated at ATM
layer

18.35
 Application Adaptation
Layer(Continue..)
 Two Sublayer:
1. segmentation and reassembly (SAR)
sublayer
 Payload  48 byte segment  At
destination  recreate original  Using AAL
sublayer
2. convergence sublayer (CS)
 To guarantee the integrity of the data

18.36
 Version of AAL

 AAL1,
 AAL2,
 AAL3/4,
 AAL5.

 Today  AAL1 - streaming audio & video

 AAL5 – Data Communication

18.37
 AAL1

 supports applications that transfer

information at constant bit rates  video
and voice
 allows ATM to connect existing digital
telephone networks
 SAR add 1 byte header
 Two fields
 Sequence number (SN) – 4 bit
 Sequence number protection (SNP) – 4 bit 
18.38 protect SN
 Figure 15 AAL1

18.39
 AAL2

 support a variable-data-rate bit stream,

but it has been redesigned.
 now used for low-bit-rate traffic and short-
frame traffic such as audio (compressed or
uncompressed), video, or fax.
 short frames into one cell.

18.40
 AAL2 (Continue..)

 CS layer overhead consists of five fields:

1. Channel identifier (CID): 8-bit field
defines the channel (user) of the short
packet
2. Length indicator (LI). The 6-bit LI field
indicates how much of the final packet is
data.
3. Packet payload type (PPT). The PPT field
defines the type of packet.
18.41
 AAL2 (Continue..)

4. User-to-user indicator (UUI). The UUI

field can be used by end-to-end users.
5. Header error control (HEC). The last 5
bits is used to correct errors in the
header.

18.42
 Figure 16 AAL2

18.43
 AAL3/4
 Initially, AAL3 was intended to support
connection-oriented data services
 AAL4 to support connectionless services.
 fundamental issues of the two protocols
were the same  combined
 CS layer header and trailer consist of six
fields:
1. Common part identifier (CPI). The CPI
defines how the subsequent fields are to
be interpreted. The value at present is O.
18.44
 AAL3/4 (Continue..)
2. Begin tag (Btag). The value of this field is
repeated in each cell to identify all the
cells belonging to the same packet. The
value is the same as the Etag.
3. Buffer allocation size (BAsize). The 2-byte
BA field tells the receiver what size buffer
is needed for the coming data.
4. Alignment (AL). The I-byte AL field is
included to make the rest of the trailer 4
bytes long.
18.45
 AAL3/4 (Continue..)
5. Ending tag (Etag). The I-byte ET field
serves as an ending flag. Its value is the
same as that of the beginning tag.
6. Length (L). The 2-byte L field indicates
the length of the data unit.

18.46
 Figure 17 AAL3/4

18.47
 AAL5
 AAL3/4 provides comprehensive
sequencing and error control mechanisms
that are not necessary for every
application
 AAL5 assumes that all cells belonging to a
single message travel sequentially and
that control functions are included in the
upper layers of the sending application.

18.48
 Figure 18 AAL5

18.49