A shared medium multi-service protocol

A new asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) shared medium protocol which guarantees capacity for constant bit rate (CBR) and variable bit rate (VBR) services is described. The protocol includes a traffic shaping function, multiple prioritized access, a buffer insertion mechanism, destination release and distributed queuing for lower priority traffic. The protocol also allows for mixed priority mode for a connection to provide efficient and fair access for VBR connections requiring a guaranteed rate lower than the peak. It is demonstrated by simulation that the protocol can guarantee capacity for CBR and VBR connections, with minimal cell clumping