Distributed CBO call set-up in a circuit emulation ATM switch

A fully distributed routing control scheme, called the flooding technique, is described. It is to be applied to an ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) switch architecture for the establishment of CBO (continuous bit stream oriented) calls. The main advantage of this technique with respect to a centralized solution consists of a sensitive improvement of the system performance, particularly in fault-tolerance and flexibility. Two service scenarios are considered: CBO services characterized by a burstiness equal to one, and by a burstiness greater than one. The implementation alternatives of the flooding technique relevant to both the scenarios are presented, and their main characteristics are compared. The ATM switch architecture and its mode of operation are also described. In particular, the different strategies for handling CBO and nonisochronous classes of traffic are presented, and some properties on the topology of the switching fabric are given