ATM Networks

The Integrated Services Vision

• Initially telephone network all-analog
• Transmission & Switching
• Gradual transition to all-digital core
• 1960’s: transmission in backbone became digital
• 1970’s: switching became digital
• Subscriber loop from customer to network remained analog
• Integrated Services Vision:
• Network should be digital end-to-end
• Network should support all services: telephone, data, video
• Three attempts at achieving Integrated Services Network
• ISDN in 1980s
• ATM/BISDN in 1990’s
• Internet in 2000’s
Benefits of ATM
• Network infrastructure and management simplified by using a single
transfer mode for the network
• Expected to cover LAN, MAN, and WAN

• Extensive bandwidth management capabilities

• SONET-like grooming capabilities, but at arbitrary bandwidth granularities

• ATM is not limited by speed or distance limitations

• 50-600 Mbps the sweet spot for ATM

• QoS attributes of ATM allow it to carry voice, data, and video thus making
it suitable for an integrated services network.
ATM Anticipated Scope
• All information transferred by network that handles 53-byte cells
• Scalable in terms of speed
• Switched approach operates in LAN, MAN, or WAN

5 bytes 48 bytes
Network header User information

local area
network
multimedia
(LAN) data
terminal
wireless base
interface

ATM fibre backbone video

Wide Area Network (WAN) server
wireless
interface
supercomputer
ATM Networking
Voice Video Packet Voice Video Packet

ATM ATM
Adaptation Adaptation
Layer Layer

ATM Network
ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) Protocol
Structure
AAL has two sublayers:
Higher Layers
• Segmentation &
Service Specific Reassembly
Convergence • Segments PDUs into cell
Sublayer payloads; Reassembles PDUs
from received cell payloads
Convergence • Convergence
AAL Layer Sublayer • Common Part: packet framing
Common Part and error detection functions
required by all AAL users
Segmentation • Specific Part: functions that
and Reassembly depend on specific
Sublayer requirements of AAL user
classes

ATM
AAL converts
Voice
Info into Cells
A/D AAL
s1 , s2 … cells
Digital voice samples

Video

A/D … Compression AAL

cells
compressed
picture frames
frames

Data AAL
Bursty variable-length cells
packets
Cell-Switching – Virtual Circuit
Cells Cells
Cells
Source
Cells

Switches Destination

• Connection setup establishes virtual circuit by setting pointers in tables in

path across network
• All cells for a connection follow the same path
• Abbreviated header identifies connection
• Cells queue for transmission at ATM switches & multiplexers
• Fixed and Variable bit rates possible, negotiated during call set-up
• Delay and loss performance negotiated prior to connection setup
ATM Switching
Switch carries out table translation and routing
1
1
voice 67
Switch

…
video 67 2
25 N 75
5 video 25 voice 32
32 1 67 data 39 3
32 3 39
6 data 32 video 61
61 2 67

…
…

video 75 N
N

ATM switches can be implemented using shared memory,

shared backplanes, or self-routing multi-stage fabrics
Multiplexing in ATM Switches
 Packet traffic 1
1
multiplexed onto
input lines 2 2

 Demultiplexed at
input port
 Forwarded to
N N
output port
ATM Networks
ATM Reference Model
ATM Reference Model
Management Planes
User Plane: transfer of user
information; flow control;
Control Plane
error recovery
User Plane
Control Plane: setting up,

Plane Management
Layer Management
management, and release of
Higher Layers connections
Layer Management Plane:
ATM Adaptation Layer management of layer entities
& OAM
ATM Layer Plane Management:
management of all the
Physical Layer planes
Planes Explained
• Three types of logical networks are involved in delivering
communication services
• User Network: transfers user information
• Control (Signaling) Network: carries signaling messages to establish,
maintain, terminate connections
• Management Network: carries management information: monitoring
information, alarms and usage statistics
• A separate protocol stack, “plane”, is defined for each of these three
networks
ATM Layered Architecture

Higher Layers Higher Layers

ATM Adaptation Layer ATM Adaptation Layer

(AAL) (AAL)

ATM Network Layer ATM Network Layer ATM Network Layer

Physical Layer Physical Layer Physical Layer

USER NETWORK USER

ATM Layered Architecture
ATM Adaptation Layer
• standard interface to higher layers
Higher Layers • adaptation functions
• end-to-end between end systems
• segmentation into cells and reassembly
ATM Adaptation Layer
(AAL) ATM Network Layer
• Transfer of Cells
• Cell-Header Generation/Extraction
ATM Network Layer • VPI/VCI Translation
• Cell multiplexing/demultiplexing
• Flow and congestion control
Physical Layer
Physical Layer
• Cell stream / bit stream conversion
• Digital transmission
ATM Interfaces
Private UNI: User-Network Interface
ATM
Private NNI: Network-Network Interface
network
UNI B-ICI: Broadband Inter-carrier i/f
X X
Private Public ATM
NNI X network A

X X
NNI
Public X
UNI B-ICI Public ATM
X network B

Public
X X UNI
The ATM Physical Layer
TC Sublayer:
• Cell Delineation
• Header Error Checking
Transmission
• Cell Rate Decoupling
convergence
sublayer
(Insertion of Idle Cells)
• Specific to PMD
Physical medium
PMD Sublayer:
dependent • Line code
sublayer • Connectors
• Re-use of existing physical
layer standards
Private UNI Physical Layers
Frame format Bit rate Media
Cell stream 25.6 Mbps UTP-3
STS-1 51.84 Mbps UTP-3
FDDI 100 Mbps MMF
STS-3c, STM-1 155.52 Mbps UTP-3, UTP-5,
STP, SMF, MMF
coaxial pair
Cell stream 155.52 Mbps MMF, STP
STS-12, STM-4 622.08 Mbps SMF, MMF

UTP = Unshielded twisted pair STP = Shielded twisted pair MMF =

Multimode fiber SMF = Single-mode pair
Public UNI Physical Layers
Frame format Bit rate Media
DS-1 1.655 Mbps Twisted pair
DS-3 44.736 Mbps Coaxial
STS-3c, STM-1 155.52 Mbps SMF
E-1 2.048 Mbps Twisted pair
Coaxial
E3 34.368 Mbps Coaxial
J2 6.312 Mbps Coaxial
ATM Networks
ATM Layer
The ATM Layer
• Concerned with sequenced transfer of cells across network
connections
• ATM Connections
• Point-to-Point: unidirectional or bidirectional
• Point-to-Multipoint: unidirectional
• Permanent Virtual Connections (PVC): long-term connections to provision
bandwidth between endpoints in an ATM network
• Switched Virtual Connections (SVC): shorter-term connections established in
response to customer requests
ATM Virtual Connections
• Virtual Channel Connections: virtual circuit
• Virtual Path Connections: bundle of virtual connections
• ATM Header contains virtual connection information:
• 8-bit Virtual Path Identifier Virtual paths
• 16-bit Virtual Channel Identifier

Virtual channels
Header Error Check
• The HEC only covers the 5 bytes of the header to protect against cell
misdelivery
• Since VPI/VCI changes at every switch, HEC must be recomputed
• HEC used for cell delineation
• Two modes: Header Error Detection / Correction
ATM Permanent Virtual Connections

Operator at
Network Control Center

ATM ATM
Switch Switch

• Operator “manually” sets up VPI/VCI tables at switches

and terminals
• Long set-up time, long-lived connections
ATM Switched Virtual Connections

ATM ATM
Switch Switch

• Terminals and switches use pre-defined VPI/VCI to setup

connections dynamically, on-demand
• Signalling protocol used to communicate with call-
processing system
 Chapter 9
ATM Networks
ATM Signaling
ATM Signaling
• Signaling: means for dynamically setting up and releasing virtual
connections in ATM
• Signaling involves message exchange across:
• User-Network-Interface
• Network-Network Interface
• Broadband Inter-Carrier Interface
• Signaling requires:
• Network addressing framework
• Protocols
ATM Addressing
• Telephony E-164 Addresses
• For public networks
• Up to 15-digit E-164 (telephone) numbers
• In North America, 1-NPA-NXX-ABCD,
• ATM End-System Addresses (AESAs)
• For private networks
• ISO Network Service Access Point (NSAP) format
• 20 bytes long
• Data Country Code (DCC)
• International Code Designator (ICD)
• E.164 (contained within the AESA format)
ATM Signaling
• Telephone Signaling
• ISDN signaling (Q.931) used in call setup messages at the user-network-interface
• Within the network, ISUP protocol of Signaling System #7 used to establish a
connection from a source switch to a destination switch
• For ATM, need UNI, NNI, & B-ICI signalling
• UNI: Q.2931 & ATMF UNI 4.0
• NNI: ATMF PNNI based on UNI 4.0
• B-ICI based on B-ISUP
 Chapter 9
ATM Networks
PNNI Routing
PNNI Routing Protocol
• A routing protocol for the selection of routes that can meet QoS
requirements
• For intra-domain and inter-domain routing
• Link-state approach: each node has network topology
• Introduces hierarchy in the ATM network that provides a switch:
• Detailed routing information in its immediate vicinity
• Summary information about distant destinations
PNNI Terminology
• Peer Group: collection of nodes that maintain an identical view of the
group
• Logical Group Node: abstract representation of a peer group at a
higher level in the routing hierarchy
• Peer Group Leader: node in peer group that executes functions of
LGN for the PG
• Summarizes topology info within the PG
• Injects summary info into higher order groups and into the PG
PNNI Routing Hierarchy
• PGL passes topology summary upward in hierarchy and downwards
to its PG
• Multiple levels of hierarchy allowed
Logical Link
A B

Logical Group Node

Peer Group Leader PG(A)

A.2
A.1

PG(B)
PG(A.1) PG(A.2)
A.2.2 B.1
A.1.2
B.3

A.2.1 A.2.3
A.2.4
A.1.1 A.1.3 B.2
B.4

Physical Link
PNNI Source Routing
• PNNI source node specifies entire path across its PG using designated transit list
(DTL)
• Rest of path specified using higher levels in the hierarchy
• Example: station in A.1.1 requests path to B.3
• Path: (A.1.1, A.1.2, A.2, B)

Logical Link
A B
Logical Group Node
Peer Group Leader PG(A)

A.2
A.1

PG(B)
PG(A.1) PG(A.2)
A.2.2 B.1
A.1.2
B.3

A.2.1 A.2.3
A.2.4
A.1.1 A.1.3 B.2
B.4