Architecture and design of connectionless data service for a public ATM network

The backward compatibility dilemma introduced by the deployment of a high-speed, wide-area asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network is examined. The problem is that emerging ATM network must be capable of transporting traffic sources such as digital voice and video, but many of the design choices that optimize ATM for these sources make the transport of traditional connectionless data traffic difficult. The overlay of a virtual datagram network of connectionless servers onto a public ATM network to provide connectionless service is proposed to solve the problem. This method provides low transfer delay and efficiently utilizes network resources. Architectural issues are described, and an implementation of a connectionless server is presented.<>