String mode-a new concept for performance improvement of ATM networks

A multilink concept, called string mode, that can be used in an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network to balance the load and thereby increase the efficiency of the network is introduced. The principle of the concept is to chop bursts into smaller subbursts, called strings, and distribute them onto a number of parallel links. Performance evaluation shows an efficiency improvement of more than 50% when the concept is used with bursty sources with a relatively high peak bit rate. The traffic shaping property and balancing of the load obtained in using the string mode protocol allow a simpler load control mechanism. The dissociation between service bit rate and link bit rate makes it possible to provide a high-bit-rate service using less advanced technology, and it will lower the blocking probability, as the total bandwidth does not have to be found on the same link