QoS and multipoint support for multimedia applications over the ATM ABR service

Multimedia applications with stringent delay requirements are usually supported by the constant bit rate (CBR) or real-time variable bit rate (rt-VBR) service categories of ATM. This article shows that the available bit rate (ABR) service, which was originally designed for data, can also support multimedia applications under certain circumstances. Issues related to the design of proper ABR traffic management algorithms for such support are presented.