|
URL:
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is a means of
digital communications that is capable of very high speeds (currently up to 40
Gbps using SONET/OC-768). It is used for the transport of voice, video, data,
and images. ATM is an ITU-T standard for cell relay. Information is conveyed in
small, fixed-size cells. ATM is the world's most widely deployed backbone
technology. ATM has been widely adopted because of its flexibility in supporting
the broadest array of technologies, including DSL, IP Ethernet, Frame Relay, SONET/SDH and wireless platforms. ATM can be used both for
WANs and LANs.
ATM itself consists of a series of layers. The first
layer - known as the Application Adaptation Layer (AAL) - holds the bulk of the
transmission. This 48-byte payload divides the data into different types. The
ATM layer contains five bytes of additional information, referred to as
overhead. This section directs the transmission. Lastly, the physical layer
attaches the electrical elements and network interfaces.
Keywords:
Physical Layer, WAN
|
