Experiments and enhancements for IP and ATM integration: the IthACI project

IthACI has been a European project in the ACTS framework concentrating on fast layer 2 forwarding methods for IP traffic based on labeled flow mechanisms. The approach is also known as IP switching and is considered promising for enhancing IP performance. Several flavors of IP switching have been proposed by various vendors (e.g., IP switching by Ipsilon, Tag Switching by Cisco, ARIS by IBM, IPSOFACTO by the NEC), all of them different and not interoperable. IP switching has been adopted by the IETF under the umbrella of multiprotocol label switching (MPLS). Although MPLS has made remarkable progress, a number of issues remain largely open for further investigation. The scope of the IthACI project was to address such issues and propose solutions. The issues addressed were multicast, QoS, resource management, and mobility support in a multicast environment. IthACI conducted both theoretical and experimental work. Three network islands, each based on a different flavor of IP switching, were set-up and the interoperability of these different IP switching/MPLS flavors were investigated and demonstrated.