ATM switching systems for broadband ISDN

ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) is considered to be the most suitable for Broadband Integrated Service Digital Networks (B-ISDN), because of its time transparency and bandwidth flexibility. ATM switch constitutes a crucial component of broadband networks. The ATM switching differs considerably from the conventional switching techniques due to various reasons. The high-speed interface to the switch, transport of wide variety of traffic with different Quality of Service (QoS) requirements in a seamless manner, and potential statistical multiplexing gain from the ATM cell stream, impose some constraints in the design of the ATM switching systems. In this paper, we discuss various components of ATM switching system from the view of support of B-ISDN Protocol Reference Model (PRM). The focus is on the various issues in the context of design of control module and management module of the switching system which supports functionality of control plane and management plane of B-ISDN Protocol Reference Model, respectively.