ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors identify two critical features of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology which is likely create necessary market conditions for a large-scale deployment: its ability to allow inter-working of various incompatible telecommunication technologies and its ability to provide a high-speed, high-bandwidth backbone telecommunication network to satisfy the tremendous demand created by the Internet service. In an ATM network environment, the messages generated by various sources are divided into fixed-length packets called ATM cells and transmitted over a transmission path using statistical multiplexing technique. The degree of competitiveness of the market is a key factor that should be considered in product planning and it is directly related to the following factors: scale of investment required, scale of market size and reward, regulatory conditions, customer driven factors, market trends and influence of computing on telecommunications market. In the area of switching, two concepts are the prime candidates for market domination: cell-based ATM switching and frame-based IP switching.
