A flexible customer premises network concept based on ATM principles

The author presents ideas concerning ATM (asynchronous transfer mode)-based customer premises networks (CPNs) that can easily be tailored to the needs of a broad range of customers, residential and small business. The architecture of a CPN is considered. An analysis of the needs of these users leads to a structural model for a CPN that features a high degree of modularity and interfaces with low-level functionality. The main components of such a CPN are (passive) connection subnets and small-scale switching subnets. A slotted ring and a crossbar-based switching element are discussed as specific examples. The changes in signalling that ATM may bring about for the CPN are examined. The two major possibilities are either a single signalling channel for all terminals, as is the case now in ISDN, or dedicated signalling channels per terminal, an option that is offered by the use of ATM