ATM in the copper access network considerations for carrying a ATM over copper

Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) has principally been developed and optimised for transmission over optical fibre and, therefore, traditional access technologies may well be a limiting factor for ATM performance. Widespread fibre deployment to the home, however, is currently prohibitive because of the high investment costs required. Instead, most of these traditional access options are likely to remain, either in full or in part, for many years. Most ATM performance studies have so far been limited to transport over optical fibre. This paper highlights some of the main performance considerations for carrying ATM over the copper access network and identifies some areas for future work