Fast packet switching private networks

Two important trends are currently being witnessed in the evolution of private networks: the adoption of fast packet switching or cell switching as the technology of choice for private backbone networks, and the rapid acceptance of frame relay as the interface for the interconnection of local area networks (LANs). The paper examines the reasons for these changes and focusses in particular on the powerful combination of frame relay implemented on a cell relay infrastructure. Further, it is postulated that frame relay will become the dominant mode of data communications in the 1990s supporting not only the interconnection of LANs but also more traditional forms of corporate traffic such as SNA and video