Cabletron Systems BRIM-A6 manual Appendix B ATM Overview, ATM Basics

APPENDIX B

ATM OVERVIEW

This Appendix covers basic Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network operation and concepts that are critical to ATM network design and installation. The ATM Forum User-Network Interface Specification provides greater detail on ATM access methods and should be referenced whenever more information is needed. The scope of this appendix is to provide information regarding:

•Basic ATM Concepts.

•Basic ATM technology and how it works.

B.1 ATM BASICS

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) defines a method of transmitting and switching broadband information. This method highlights the use of relatively small, fixed-size cells (53 bytes) of information as opposed to large, variable-sized packets found in other networking transmission methods (ranging from 64 bytes to well over 4800 bytes). In addition, this method is being heralded as the first solution in erasing barriers between local-area networks and wide-area networks – providing voice, video, and data transmission.

The use of small ATM cells provides cost, speed, manufacturing, and technical advantages over other existing transmission methods (i.e., Ethernet, Token Ring, and FDDI). This appendix touches upon several of these advantages and, when possible, describes them in as much detail as the scope allows.

BRIM-A6 User’s Guide Page B-1