An international broadband field trial

OTC Ltd., Australia, are investigating technology options for broadband ISDN (B-ISDN). This work has concentrated on asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks. The 34 Mbps international satellite link to be used in this trial is reserved capacity for restoration of voice-grade Tasman-1 (Australia-New Zealand) cable circuits. The field trial involves six ATM switching nodes located at two locations in Sydney, Australia and a seventh node located in Wellington, New Zealand. The international link will be via a satellite at the 34 Mbps rate. INTELSAT is providing this capacity free of charge. The two Sydney locations will also be connected at 34 Mbps. The authors discuss the motivations for the field trial, the form of the experimental network, some of the issues to be resolved and how they see ATM technology fitting into a long term network design