ATM strengths
Easier to build hardware for processing fixed cells
- buffer size, segmentation and reassembly
Easier to implement hardware that can process in parallel
- large parallel scaleable systems with identical switch elements
Comprehensive framework for traffic management
Queue output time per cell small and fixed allowing fine control of queues
- control of delay and jitter important for multimedia
QoS support (definition, enforcement, implementation)
User-Network Interface (UNI) cell format:
GFC - Generic Flow Control arbitrates local access to shared medium. Part of VPI in Network-Network Interface (NNI) cell format
VPI - Virtual Path Identifier
VCI - Virtual Circuit Identifier
Type - reserved for management, valid data, switch congestion indication, AAL5 frame deliniation
CLP - Cell Loss Priority indicates which cells can be droped in case of network overload
HEC - Header Error Check to protect integrity of header