Adaptive error correction for ATM communications using Reed-Solomon codes

Congestion in ATM communications is a significant issue as it can have a dramatic effect on critical or real-time data. Forward error correction (FEC) can be used to decrease or eliminate this effect. Conventional FEC has a uniform error correction capability, which can result in poor bandwidth utilization. Adaptive FEC is more suitable because it allows a different quality of service for each data type. In this paper a versatile adaptive FEC technique is proposed. It is shown that this technique can decrease the effect of congestion and increase the channel utilization.