Impact of data communication on ATM

An asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)-based network, connection oriented by definition, is able to control available resources in an efficient way without quality degradation. Current data communication applications are frequently connectionless based. Since no resources are allocated, this may result in less efficient use of available resources, or in more complex protocols to eliminate quality degradation. This incompatibility of connectionless requirements over a connection-oriented network can be solved if certain requirements of the control network are met, without having more complex protocols; or by introducing more complex protocols in certain places in the network. This work identifies the constraints and the impact of ATM on data services and proposes some alternative solutions for data communication problems in an ATM network.<>