ATM LAN emulation

Many of the most common protocols at layers two (media access), three (network), and above expect to operate over broadcast media such as IEEE 802.3/Ethernet or IEEE 802.5/token ring. LAN emulation provides a widely applicable means for transitioning these protocols to the connection-oriented ATM environment. A combination of centralized and distributed intelligence allows a star-plus-mesh topology of ATM virtual circuits to emulate broadcast media, while providing most of the advantages of connection-oriented media.