Architectures for ATM network survivability

This article surveys the restoration architectures for asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network survivability that have been actively studied in this decade. Network reliability is critical for recent and future networks that will advance the information era. Moreover, it is one of the biggest factors in designing and managing networks. Since the early telecom network era, many restoration systems have been developed for plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH), synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH), synchronous optical network (SONET), leased lines and so on; and they were surveyed in many papers and books. This article focuses on new restoration techniques for ATM networks. First, the requirement studies are introduced. This includes the scant results published on the influence of failure and the state of failure analysis. Next, restoration schemes are categorized and briefly introduced. Examples include centralized control, automatic protection switch (APS), self-healing ring (SHR), self-healing network (SHN) and failure resistant virtual path (FRVP). In order to achieve adequate restoration probability with minimum cost, a network design scheme is necessary; thus, network design issues are introduced. Finally, this article focuses on the issues, future work, and problems that remain to be solved.