ATM over shared media networks

The emerging asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technology provides an end-to-end quality-of-service (QoS) for communication services. However within the local communication area traditionally stochastic network technology like Ethernet has been utilized. Therefore, an alternative approach to provide end-to-end ATM services without a complete replacement of traditional local area networking equipment, has been developed. ATM services are offered over Ethernet, where end-systems are attached via an Ethernet segment to an Ethernet-ATM attachment device (ASHMEN). Applications use common ATM signaling and ATM protocols, such as the ATM adaptation layer 5 (AAL 5) protocol, to setup and maintain end-to-end ATM connectivity. The developed protocol architecture includes a protocol mapping from AAL 5 frames into Ethernet frames which has been efficiently implemented in a UNIX-based workstation environment. QoS guarantees can be provided within the ATM network as usual and are offered additionally within the Ethernet segment which is made possible with Ethernet switching technology and a resource management module implemented in the Ethernet-ATM attachment device.