Cell Relay Archive[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index][Thread Index][Author Index][Subject Index] Re: ATM: hardware or software or both?
In <3mbqpr$ahb@cephus.cs.purdue.edu>, zhenjl@cs.purdue.edu (Jian Liang Zhen) writes: >I am a newbie to the ATM technology (well, networking in general for that >matter). I've been reading on some materials on the ATM technology and >I am a bit confused as to what exactly ATM is. My main confusion is >that: is ATM a hardware technology or software protocol? One professor >told me that ATM is a hardware switching technology and some other person >told me that's a protocol. Can someone please try to clear me up on >this. If you have some pointers to papers that I should read, please >let me know too. ATM is the selected method for implementation of Broadband ISDN. As a technology for implementing the bottom layers of the OSI model, it includes specifications for both hardware and software elements. For an overview, I would suggest that you try to find a copy of the new (Third Edition) William Stallings book: ISDN and Broadband ISDN. (The Second Edition may be easier to find, but it is somewhat out of date, and I would not suggest that you do as I did and actually buy it, unless you have money to burn.) There is also a formal organization which has taken the responsibility for developing ATM standards. It is called (naturally enough) ATM Forum. Check it out by sending an e-mail to info@atmforum.com. /~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | Bill Schultz A Warped Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste..... | Use OS/2 Warp: Waste Not, Want Not..... |
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