A novel approach to network router/bridge for nationwide intranet

Intranets have been receiving much more attention due to the success of the WWW. There is an increasing demand for intranets that offer higher speed, higher throughput, and stronger security at low cost. This paper points out the problems of constructing a nationwide computer network and proposes the cut-through ATM-based forwarding engine and a new network configuration concept that acts as a large router/bridge.