Protocols and Open Issues in ATM Multipoint Communications

AbstractAsynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks must de ne multicast capabilities in order to e ciently support numerous applications, such as LAN emulation, Internet protocol (IP) multicasting, video conferencing and distributed applications. Several problems and issues arise in ATM multicasting, such as signaling, routing, connection admission control, and tra c management problems. IP integrated services over ATM poses further challenges to ATM multicasting. Scalability and simplicity are the two main concerns for ATM multicasting. This paper provides a survey of the current work on multicasting problems in general, and ATM multicasting in particular. A number of proposed schemes is examined, such as the schemes MARS, MCS, RSVP, SEAM, SMART, and various multipoint tra c management schemes. The paper also indicates a number of key open issues that remain unresolved.