A reliable solution for voice trunking in ATM networks

In the last two years, there has been a significant increase in traffic within the traditional public TDM network. Thus, there is more and more demand to expand the existing voice networks, especially in the transit area. Voice has traditionally been provided as a specific service within dedicated TDM networks. For new investments, there is a clear trend away from TDM and towards packetized voice: packetized transport technologies (ATM, IP) are cheaper and, since they provide multiservice capabilities, forward looking. Today´s IP networks typically support best effort service. Mechanisms to provide differentiated quality of service and improved network reliability still have to be standardized and implemented. Thus, for the next three to five years, voice over ATM is the prime candidate for new voice investments. In this paper, we present two main approaches to using ATM in voice transit networks. We also show how an ATM core switch can be used in a voice over ATM network scenario