The ATM Protocol Reference Model

Abstract

As with many modern telecommunications technologies, ATM is based upon a number of carefully defined techniques and procedures (protocols) arranged to cope with the task of reliable information transfer across the network. The set of different functions of ATM and the means by which they interact with one another is defined by the ATM protocol reference model. The different functions defined in the various layers of the model each have clearly defined purposes ranging from the control of access to the network, the establishment of connections and the transfer of information, to the detection and correction of network problems. In this chapter we present the ATM protocol reference model, and discuss the various ‘planes’ and ‘layers’(functions) defined by it.