Service-specific control architectures for ATM

The concept of a service-specific control architecture (SSCA) in an ATM environment is presented. Here, a control architecture denotes the out-of-band control and management mechanisms operational in a network or virtual network (or part thereof). An SSCA can use knowledge about the applications it serves to make better use of network resources, and thus provide a more efficient service. Such a control architecture can be designed to provide only the subset of control functions required by the applications it serves, thereby greatly reducing its complexity. The switchlet mechanism, which allows more than one control architecture to be operational simultaneously within the same network, enables the use of service-specific control architectures. Implementation work is presented to illustrate the use of switchlets and SSCAs. This includes both an environment which uses switchlets to dynamically create virtual networks, and an SSCA used to provide video- and audioconferencing facilities in an ATM environment.