An applications driven approach to ATM

There has been a great deal of interest over the past three or four years within the telecommunications world concerning the asynchronous transfer mode, or ATM. Most experts will agree that ATM is set to play a pivotal role in shaping the telecommunications infrastructure of the future. The enthusiasm that exists for ATM by users as well as network operators and equipment vendors is demonstrated by the popularity of the ATM Forum which has grown to include in excess of 170 members by the end of its first year of operation. The paper examines ATM from an applications viewpoint. To do this, it considers what the drivers towards ATM are and the advantages that the new technology will bring to both network operators as well as to the end users of telecommunications services. Based on this it is possible to identify the applications which will justify the not insignificant cost of installing an ATM based infrastructure