Next generation local area networks

Many people now consider the local area network (LAN) to which their desktop personal computer (PC) is attached to be more important to them than the telephone network, resulting in a drive to increase both the performance and the reliability of LANs. This paper examines the key drivers for new LAN technologies, summarising LAN developments over previous years. It then looks at possible options for future LANs, which will need to evolve to meet changing traffic patterns brought about by widespread use of intranets and multimedia applications. This encompasses both new technologies such as Gigabit Ethernet, and new architectures such as virtual LANs (VLANs), multi-protocol over ATM (MPOA) and multi-protocol over LANs (MPOL).     

Low-latency handover in a wireless ATM LAN

The micro- and picocellular architectures proposed for wireless ATM LANs lead to wireless terminals frequently changing their point of attachment to the network. Because ATM connections have quality of service (QoS) guarantees which must be maintained, handover must be as seamless as possible. We present a novel architecture and protocol which primarily aims to keep the interruption period due to handover low, rather than seeking to keep the process entirely lossless. We compare the tradeoffs made, with those in other schemes from the literature, and give quantitative results from an implementation of our scheme on a 10 Mbits/s^-1 prototype wireless ATM LAN     

ATM网络上的LAN仿真技术

本文比较ＡＴＭ网络和ＬＡＮ的区别。对ＡＴＭ局域网技术作了论述，内容包括ＡＴＭＬＡＮ仿真的组成、工作原理及其特点。     

Broadband Island interconnection via satellite—performance analysis for the race II—catalyst project

The use of communication satellites as a possible way of offering broadband island interconnectivity appears to be a very attractive option, as it will enable the provision of an all-digital, transparent service to a number of ATM islands spanning a wide area, accommodating efficiently a variety of traffic demands. The CATALYST Project (RACE II/R2074) is an attempt to demonstrate the applicability and compatibility of satellite technology with the terrestrial BISDN. In this paper we present an overview of the project and focus on an initial study of the expected user performance through the CATALYST network. Our analysis is based upon mathematical and simulation models and describes the end-system to end-system transfer delay for given message lengths. The protocol profiles assume a mix of Novell NetWare and Network File System client/server architectures, which are supported by either the IEEE 802.3/Ethernet or fibre distributed data interface LANs, which are themselves linked via LAN/ATM/satellite interface units. Areas of further investigation, and the implication of our analysis on the actual network architecture, are discussed.     

IP on ATM local area networks

ATM offers increased bandwidth and greater flexibility and manageability. However, ATM's success as a LAN technology depends on its ability to provide LAN-like services compatible with existing protocols and applications. The authors address the various issues in the design and implementation of the Internet Protocol (IP) in the evolving ATM LANs     

ATM infrared wireless LANs: a proposed architecture

As infrared wireless LANs for in-building applications become more popular because of their many advantages, it is of interest to design such LANs to support the ATM protocol and therefore provide wireless access to fixed ATM networks. The architecture of such a LAN is presented in this article. Emphasis is placed on the protocol stacks of the model to provide seamless operation with the wired network, on the cellular topology, and on the MAC protocol. Under the proposed topology the system performance is revealed in terms of packet dropping probability, average access delay, channel throughput, and statistical multiplexing gain for a range of system parameters     

Data communications using ATM: architectures, protocols, andresource management

The introduction of ATM is being propelled by the need for fast data communications in public and private networks. What is needed is a clear picture of protocol architectures and traffic characteristics of the various applications to be supported both now and in the future. The authors discuss ATM network architectures with special focus on the support of connectionless LAN interconnection and show which benefits can be obtained from the introduction of a connectionless server in an ATM network. They outline issues related to the use of existing protocols when ATM networks are introduced and show which protocol complexities have to be handled by gateways and servers, again using the example of connectionless LAN interconnection. Having presented network and protocol architectures the issue of data communication in ATM, resource allocation, is treated     

A shared-memory virtual channel queue for ATM broadband terminal adaptors

In order to take advantage of the low entry cost of the future public ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) network with shared facilities, it is highly desirable to interconnect different hosts and local area networks (LANs) to the ATM network. The interface between the computer hosts or LANs and the ATM network, commonly called a broadband terminal adaptor (BTA), provides the necessary format conversion for the data packets and the ATM cells. It is conceivable that multiple packets from different virtual channels are interleaved as they arrive at the receive-end BTA. The BTA must have a sufficiently large buffer, called a virtual channel queue (VCQ), to temporarily store the partially received packets. Once a complete packet has been received, it is forwarded to the host or LAN. Whenever the buffer fills with all incomplete packets, a packet must be discarded to make room for others. In this paper, we first study, through computer simulations, the buffer size requirement of a shared-memory VCQ for different numbers of virtual channels at various packet loss probabilities. We then present two different implementation architectures for the shared-memory VCQ, and compare their hardware complexity. The second architecture with linked-queue approach, adopted in our work, requires less buffer and has better scalability to accommodate a large number of virtual channels. Various possible error conditions, such as cell losses in the ATM network and the VCQ buffer overflow, are considered. Corresponding solutions are proposed and included in the VCQ designs.     

TMN-based customer network management for ATM networks

Effective end-to-end management of today's globalized heterogeneous corporate customer networks, a mixture of ATM WANs and ATM LANs, is essential for customers at the cutting edge of technology. ATM WAN and ATM LAN management systems generally have different management policies and management information models. Studies on the customer network management system (CNMS) to realize end-to-end customer network management have thus adopted the telecommunications management network (TMN) interoperability concept, which is based on CNM manager and agent interoperation. This article proposes an end-to-end customer network management method that realizes interoperation. In order to realize configuration management, fault management, and performance management, the CNM agent extracts the information needed by CNMS from the ATM transport network operations system and controls the operations system accordingly     

Telecommunications aspects of intelligent buildings

The role of the telecommunications systems in intelligent building telecommunication technology is described, focusing on trends in Japan. The capabilities of private branch exchanges (PBXs) are examined, local area networks (LANs) are considered, and possible architectures for a backbone network are described. The building wiring issue is addressed, stressing the need for a topology accommodating ISDN and all branch LAN needs. The interfacing of the telecommunications systems with the building automation and office automation systems is briefly discussed     

A 622 Mb/s LAN/WAN gateway and experiences with wide area ATMnetworking

The use of similar technology in local and wide area networks enables geographically distributed high-performance applications. Key elements in achieving high performance are the appropriate use of traffic control and the development of efficient gateways between LANs and WANs. Even though the basic technology used on both sides of a gateway may be similar, the operational aspects of these elements are significantly different. A gateway has been developed and implemented not only to support communications between an ATM LAN and WAN at 622 Mb/s, but also to provide a platform for conducting network control and traffic research. In addition, the performance of the MAGIC WAN was evaluated, and bottlenecks were identified and analyzed. Techniques were developed and implemented, specifically ATM cell-level pacing, to eliminate these bottlenecks. Throughput performance close to the theoretical maximum was demonstrated. This article describes experiences with ATM over a WAN and how the gateway was developed, implemented, and evaluated. The results included show how high-speed LAN/WAN internetworking can be achieved and applied in many environments as appropriate control techniques and interfaces become ubiquitous     

Optical local area network technologies

To utilize the large bandwidth of optical fiber, optical LANs must employ architectures that fundamentally differ from current single-channel LAN architectures. With computer processor speeds continuing to grow exponentially and multimedia applications growing even faster, there is a strong need for higher-speed local area networks (LANs) that can handle the traffic generated by tomorrow's LAN users. Optical fiber is well suited for high-speed traffic transport, but the busty nature of computer traffic and large number of users makes it difficult to utilize the fiber's capacity in LANs. The incorporation of multiple payload channels in future LANs is seen as a necessity; WDM is a good candidate for achieving this. The rapidly improving optical component technologies allow more flexible WDM architecture designs for various emerging applications     

Frame Relay to ATM interworking

Frame Relay is a well-established technology that has attracted a large number of customers world-wide. It is typically used to interconnect large, multi-site company local area networks (LANs). These data connections are usually at low to medium speeds. Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is a newer, broadband technology that is capable of very high speed LAN interconnection. In addition, it is arguably an ideal transport medium for legacy protocols such as Frame Relay.This paper describes the data transport features of each technology and discusses how ATM may be used to interconnect existing Frame Relay networks, and how an ATM user may exchange data with a Frame Relay user.     

计算机局域网络技术发展综述

对传统计算机局域网络技术进行较为详细的阐述，并针对现有计算机技术、通信技术和多媒体技术的发展对计算机局域网络技术的发展趋势进行详细的综述，如交换式ＬＡＮ、ＡＴＭ ＬＡＮ和交换式互连网络设备。     

Flight of the FALCON [ATM]

The fabric-based ATM oriented local connectivity (FALCON), an ATM-based customer premises network (CPN), is described. FALCON supports access using traditional local area networks (LANs) such as Ethernet and token rings and supports a LAN emulation mode for its native ATM interface. This service allows a set of terminals, workstations, and servers to connect to the switch-based network and to interact as if they were attached to a traditional LAN. FALCON's backbone structure is based exclusively on ATM technology, all following CCITT or industry standards wherever they apply. The FALCON control structure is outlined     

Integration von ATM und Internet — die neue technologische Herausforderung?

Although ATM was conceived as a networking technology for multimedia communications currently ATM is to large extent employed as a backbone technology in the wide area telephone networks and for carrying Internet traffic between conventional LANs. Consequently, there is a large motivation to integrate ATM technology with Internet technology. It has to be expected that the basically different communication concepts “connectionless” and “connection oriented” will be increasingly merged in the future. This merging is already highlighted by the ongoing discussion of an efficient ATM/IP-integration. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the lates advances in ATM technology as well as in Internet technology and the different approaches for ATM/IP integration.     

Issues and approaches on extending Ethernet beyond LANs

Currently, LAN technology is predominantly Ethernet-based and offers packet-optimized switched technology. With more than 90 percent of Internet traffic originating from Ethernet-based LANs, efforts are underway to extend Ethernet beyond LANs into MANs and further into WANs. However, native Ethernet protocols need extensions or support from other technologies in order to succeed as MAN technology in terms of scalability, QoS, resiliency, OAM, and so on. The two emerging trends to carry Ethernet traffic across the MAN can be classified into native Ethernet (IEEE) protocol extensions, and encapsulation by another transportation technology such as MPLS networks. The goal is to offer new and challenging services such as virtual private LAN service, also known as transparent LAN service (TLS). This article presents a comprehensive overview of the required extensions/support of the Ethernet with an emphasis on the emerging provider bridge technology.     

Wireless ATM LAN with and without infrastructure

We consider wireless ATM concepts for small LANs, especially for SOHO and future consumer applications. We describe a wireless ATM LAN framework architecture that supports wireless ATM communications in environments with and without fixed ATM infrastructure. For the configuration with an ATM infrastructure, a distributed ATM switched backbone is proposed, which enables a smart ATM switching element to be embedded in every wireless and fixed access point. For bandwidth efficiency and ease of operation (place-and-play), we also propose an ad hoc wireless ATM LAN concept based on the same 5 GHz wireless ATM air interface as is currently under standardization in the ETSI/BRAN and ATM Forum. Unlike CSMA-based ad hoc systems such as HIPERLAN and IEEE802.11, our ad hoc wireless ATM system makes QoS management feasible in an infrastructureless environment by using resource reservation and scheduled medium access protocol. Since cost scalability is essential throughout our system design, we consider forwarding between ad hoc subnets and interworking with the fixed network as important but optional features     

The sink tree paradigm: connectionless traffic support on ATM LAN's

Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is a connection-oriented technology in which all communication is based on virtual connections established prior to the transfer of data. It is expected that the bulk of traffic carried by the ATM network will be data traffic, e.g., local area network (LAN) internetwork traffic. Hence, a major issue regarding ATM is the support for connectionless (datagram) traffic. A scheme for the efficient support for connectionless traffic in ATM LANs based on trees of virtual connections is proposed. In this scheme, a sink tree is built for every switch in the LAN. Each tree provides an efficient means of routing connectionless traffic from any switch in the network to the sink switch (root) of the tree. The sink tree solution may also be used to broadcast connectionless messages in the reverse direction. The trees can easily be updated to adapt to topological changes or congestion in the network. A protocol for refreshing the tree structure using the ATM switch routing tables is described. An adaptive rate control solution, in conjunction with fast back pressure at the ATM layer, is presented. It is shown that this scheme achieves high utilization of available bandwidth for connectionless traffic, has low cell loss probability, and small overhead     

Data communication in ATM networks

An increasing number of customers require LAN access with high bandwidth and low delay over long distances. To satisfy these needs, several high-speed network techniques have been developed. Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is superior compared to other networking technologies, as it offers high bandwidth and is scalable in the sense that the bandwidth capacity of an ATM system is not fundamentally limited to the technology itself. Initial ATM installations will operate as subnetworks of existing networks and MAC layer protocols. One of the main challenges in ATM is the transparent support of existing connectionless LAN services. Several activities have been launched within international standard bodies and forums to specify ways of providing data communication services over ATM. Most notable examples are Switched Multimegabit Data Service (SMDS) and the similar Connectionless Broadband Data Service (CBDS) supported mostly by public network service providers. But also other approaches such as IP over ATM, and LAN emulation that show more adherence to the existing local and campus area networking paradigms. The article presents the requirements and architecture of the LAN emulation service. It describes the alternative methods for carrying IP packets over ATM, a public broadband service architecture and CBDS. The traffic management aspects of the data communication services are also discussed