An ATM switch implementation - technique and technology

The future Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network, B-ISDX, will have to support a very wide variety of different services with very diverse characteristics. It is generally agreed, that the new Asynchronous Transfer Mode,ATM, currently under standardization in CCITT and other organizations, has the potential to become a widely used general transport mechanism supporting many of these services. Thus, ATM switches will be important network components in the B-ISDN. This paper describes the implementation of such a switch. First the requirements that can be put on a general B-ISDN ATM switch are discussed. Then some different switch topologies together with their overall characteristics are briefly treated. Finally, the implementation of a prototype switch with an architecture chosen to meet the requirements is described. The implementation of the prototype is currently taking place at Ellemtel Telecommunications system Laboratories. Part of this work is carried out within the RACE project ATMOSPHERIC.