Traffic Research for ATM Networks

Abstract

The Broadband-ISDN allows the integration of arbitrary type traffic such as voice, video, image and data with constant or variable bitrates. B-ISDN is based on the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), by which small packets of constant size (cells) are multiplexed, switched and transmitted on the basis of an established virtual connection. The favorable technique is flexible to accept a variety of services differing in source traffic characteristics. The ATM technique causes, however, a set of serious traffic control and grade of service problems which have to be mastered before such networks are put into operation. Thus, worldwide activities on that subject can be observed.

The European RACE initiative aims at the development of the broadband technology as a prenormative and precompetitive joint action. Within RACE, several projects address key traffic control, modelling, performance evaluation and planning aspects, such as variable bitrate source traffic modelling, multiplexing of heterogenous cell traffic streams, finite buffer loss analysis, buffer priorities, usage parameter (rate) control, connection acceptance control, multi-stage switching network analysis and end-to-end delay jitter analysis.

The contribution reviews the major research activities in this field by identifying the problems, models, analysis approaches and results. The contribution concludes with a critical view on the state of the art and on open questions still to be attacked.