ABSTRACT
A substantial amount of research effort in communication network engineering has been spent on service integration during recent years. Various new information services with different quality of service (QoS) requirements have to be handled in the most efficient and economical way possible while traditional ones are kept maintained [1]. Broadband Integrated Services Digital Networks (B-ISDN) support a wide range of applications with different QoS requirements in a flexible and cost-effective manner. The goal of B-ISDN is to define a user interface and network that meets varied requirements of these applications. The transfer mode chosen as the basis of B-ISDN is called the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). ATM is a high-bandwidth, low-delay, packet-like switching and multiplexing technique, which provides the required flexibility for supporting heterogeneous services in a B-ISDN environment [2].
