Glossary
B-8 Centillion 1200N ATM Switch User Manual
NTP 297-8103-903
ATM Address
Defined in the UNI Specification as 3 formats, each having 20 bytes in length
including country, area and end-system identifiers.
ATM Layer Link
A section of an ATM Layer connection between two adjacent active ATM Layer
entities (ATM-entities).
ATM Link
A virtual path link (VPL) or a virtual channel link (VCL).
ATM-NIC
ATM Network Interface Card: Electronic circuitry connecting a workstation to a
network.Usually a card that fits into one of the expansion slots inside a personal
computer.It works with the network software and computer operating system to
transmit and receive messages on the network.
ATM Peer-to-Peer Connection
A virtual channel connection (VCC) or a virtual path connection (VPC).
ATM Switch
A generic term usually referring to an ATM switching system rather than a
switching element. ATM switches are generally hardware based, sel f-ro uting, and
high speed (up to Gbit/s).
ATM-TA
ATM Terminal Adapter: The terminal adapter is a protocol converter (little black
box) that adapts PCs, workstations and other equipment to the peculiar world of
ISDN.
ATM Traffic Descriptor
A generic list of traffic parameters that can be used to capture the intrinsic traffic
characteristics of a requested ATM connection.
ATM User-User Connection
An association established by the ATM Layer to su ppor t co mmun ication between
two or more ATM service users (i.e., between two or more next higher entities or
between two or more ATM-entities). The communications over an ATM Layer
connection may be either bidirectional or unidirectional. The same V irtual Channel
Identifier (VCI) issued for both directions of a connection at an interface.