ATM technology overview-what it is and what it is not

ATM is probably the most talked about networking technology of the last 5 years, however at some point the talking has to stop, and commercially viable deployment begin. Depending on one's view, or possibly vested interest, ATM is either on the verge of widespread deployment, or the technology that never quite made it, and is about to be killed off by IP. Debate between the opposing camps is often elevated to the status of a religious war, and it is easy to lose sight of the key issues in the technical and commercial crossfire. This paper considers the essential nature and purpose of ATM, and considers what it still has to offer to meet the seemingly insatiable demand for communications bandwidth.