Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)

The goal of this report is to describe the fast evolving ATM technology, with special emphasis on new standards, research results and developments. This report should be used like a dictionary to get an overview of the ATM technology. For further details, it is necessary to look into the papers listed in the reference list. This report discusses 1 the basic features of ATM networks. The topics discussed are relatively finalized and little has changed to date. 2 the new ATM technology areas, including some information that is only a few months old. ATM and its companion technologies are being developed by the International Telecommunications Union, the ATM Forum, and the Internet Engineering Task Force. Many of these technologies are described by these organizations through the use of Specifications and Requests for Comments RFCs. 3 a list of the RFCs and Specifications crucial to the development of ATM. 4 a list of ATM specific acronyms. Although not all the acronyms listed were explicitly described in this report, they are necessary for reading other ATM literatures. 5 a list of references crucial to understanding the ATM technology. In many cases, Internet addresses and links are included.