Migrating to ATM in the local area

Local area networking has been undergoing significant changes as multimedia applications gain popularity and client-server data traffic increases. It is unclear to what degree the existing shared-medium LAN technology is capable of meeting the changing demands. ATM is an attractive alternative because it is able to support a higher total throughput than shared-medium networks. The objective of this study is to evaluate alternative strategies for migrating towards an ATM switched internetwork, where the backbone network is comprised of ATM switching, while switching hubs serve as access points for the server and client machines. We concentrate on the local access portion of the migration problem. The network components considered are Ethernet at 10 Mb/s and 100 Mb/s, switching hubs, and ATM-equipped end devices. Simulation results for the performance of both data and realtime traffic are presented, and other related issues are discussed