Smooth intentional rerouting and its applications in ATM networks

Traditional communication networks reroute connections following link or node failures. This can be regarded as forced rerouting. The next generation ATM networks are supposed to be more intelligent and to offer more services than existing networks. An intelligent network may sometimes decide to reroute a connection whose virtual channel is still alive. This can be regarded as intentional rerouting. The present paper deals with intentional rerouting of ATM connections. It shows that intentional rerouting can ensure cell FIFO and integrity. Then several possible applications of intentional rerouting are suggested and discussed