ATM transport node for flexible and robust access networks

This paper describes an architecture and functions required for integrated access networks for a future multi-service telecommunication environment. A multi-service access network can be configured over a physical ATM/SDH ring-star network applying the virtual path layering as a logical networking technology. Service specific path management and fault tolerant networking technologies, such as the automatic protection switching and the traffic management are described with hardware implementation examples. An ATM add-drop-multiplexer for 2.4-Gbps transmission link and an ATM access multiplexer with 24 156-Mbps interfaces are presented to show the feasibility of the proposed integrated access networks