ATM Tutorial

Paul Chen
April, 2000

Outlines
1. ATM Basics and Reference Model
2. Concepts of VP and VC
3. ATM Protocol Stack
4. QoS Concept
5. Network Congestion and Policing
6. ATM and SONET
7. ATM OAM Principle
8. ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL)
9. ATM Network Management and MIB
10. References

Why Interest in ATM?

Both LAN and WAN Technology

Scaleable in
Distance

Standards
Based

ATM

Scaleable
in Speeds

Carries Multiple
Traffic Types

One
International
Standard

Voice/Data/Video

Mbit

Gbit

ATM and B-ISDN

Relationship
ATM is the foundation technology for
Broadband-ISDN
B-ISDN is the universe of services that will be
made possible by the use of ATM technology

VOICE
DATA
VIDEO

Broadband Protocol Model

Signaling
(VBR)

CBR
e.g.
DS1
DS3
Voice

CO (VBR)
Other VBR
Other
e.g.
e.g.
Frame Relay Services
VBR Video
X.25

Upper Layer 2

La
ye
2 r

on
P tr
la o
ne l

User Plane

S
La erv
ye ic
r es
P o
ro r
to H
co ig
ls he
r

Management Plane

AAL
ATM
SONET/SDH

PDH

r
e
y
La

Functions B-ISDN Layers

End
Station

ATM
Switch

A A P
A T H
L M Y

P A P
H T H
Y M Y

End
Station

P A A
H T A
Y M L

ATM
Cells

Adaptation Layer (AAL): Inserts/extracts information

into 48 byte payload
ATM Layer: Adds/removes 5 byte header to payload
Physical Layer: Converts to appropriate electrical
or optical format

History of ATM

ITU-T
Launches
B-ISDN
Project

53 Byte Cell
Standardized
(June 1989)

1985

Public WAN
Services
Launched

ATM
Forum
Chartered

1987

1989

ATM
Products
Introduced

1991

1993

Anchorage Accord
Interoperability
based on ATMF
Specifications
(April 1996)

1995

1997

Comparison of ATM with other

Technologies

CONVENTIONAL
LAN

CONVENTIONAL
TELECOM

ATM

TRAFFIC TYPE

DATA

VOICE

DATA, VOICE,
VIDEO

TRANSMISSION
UNIT

VARIABLE
PACKET

FIXED FRAME

FIXED CELL

UP TO G BPS

UP TO G BPS

M BPS TO G BPS

CONNECTION
LESS

CONNECTIONORIENTED

BEST EFFORT

GUARANTEED

CONNECTIONORIENTED
DEFINED
CLASSES

SHARED

DEDICATED

RATE
CONNECTION
TYPE
DELIVERY OF
TRAFFIC
ACCESS

DEDICATED

Anatomy of an ATM Cell

8
Byte 1
Byte 2
Byte 3
Byte 4
Byte 5

48
Bytes

GFC (UNI) OR VPI (NNI)

VPI
VCI

VPI

Header

VCI
VCI

PTI

CLP

HEC

Payload

Virtual
Circuits
First we have the cable...

Next, ATM Addressing Defines Paths...

VPs
Then Channels.

VCs

SONET and ATM Channels

Transport Overhead

Transport Overhead

Path Overhead

Path Overhead

STS-1
(DS3)
STS-1
(DS3)
VT1.5

DS1

STS-1
28 VT1.5

Virtual Paths & Virtual Channels

VCs

VP

VCs

VP

Physical
Transmission
Link

VP

VCs

VP

VCs

VPI: Virtual Path Identifier

4,096 at NNI and 256 at UNI

VCI: Virtual Channel Identifier

65,536

Both used to route cells through network

Unique on link-by-link basis
Interpreted at each switch

ATM Connections

ATM is virtual connection-oriented; there must always be

a virtual connection established before cells can be sent
Connections can be established:
Administratively as PVCs
Lowest common denominator for Interoperability for
devices not supporting UNI 3.x signaling

Dynamically as SVCs
Implies ATM signaling capability

ATM Switches are easily Scaleable

in Speed

ATM protocol is connection-oriented

once connection is set up, cells are quickly switched in hardware
by using VPI/VCI at very high speeds

Uses fixed cell length

Allows switch hardware to be optimized around a fixed length cell

Uses SONET as physical layer interface

Scales to high speed and is defined and deployed at Gigabit rates

Logical ATM Switch Fabric

ATM Switch Ingress Path
PHY
receive
termination

Connection
Lookup

Physical/TC
Layer
Processing

ATM Layer
Processing

from
interface

OAM
Processing

Policing

Buffering,
Queueing
& Scheduling

to
queue

ATM Switch Egress Path

from
queue

Fabric
receive
termination

Connection
Lookup

Buffering,
Queueing
& Scheduling

OAM

Policing
(EFCI)

to
interface

ATM Layer
Processing

Internal
Loopback

Concept
VPs and VCs in the Network
VC 8
VC 11

VP2

L in k 1

L in k 1

NN 1

VP2

VC 21

VC 21
VC 11

VP3

VC7

U s e r/N e tw o rk
In te r f a c e
( U N I)

VP3

VC8
VC 11
VC2

VP8

VP5

CPN 1

L in k 1

VC2

VC 11
VP5

L in k 2

VP8

VP6

VP6
VC 2

VP3

L in k 3

L in k 2

CPN 2

VP5

L in k 4

N e tw o rk N o d e
In te rfa c e
(N N I)

U s e r/N e tw o r k
In te r fa c e
(U N I)
L in k 1

VP3

VP5

CPN 3
VC7

VP2

L in k 2

L in k 1

VP2
VC 2

Routing Concept in
an ATM Network

VC 9

VC9
VP1

NN 2

L in k 3

L in k 2

VP1

ATM Protocol Stack

ISO
Model
(OSI)
Layer 3
(Network)

MAC

Service Access
Point (SAP)

AAL - SAP

(Not part
of ATM)

Service Specific Functions (SSCS)

Provide additional functions as required
for specific services (can be null)

Common Part Convergence Sublayer (CPCS)

Builds header and trailer records onto user data frame
Assures integrity at the frame level

Sublayer
Boundary
Layer 2
(Link)

Higher
Layers

ATM
Adaptation
Layer (AAL)

Segmentation and Reassembly (SAR)

Converts CPCS frames into cells
Adds cell headers and trailers to provide integrity at the cell level

Service Access Point (SAP)

Cell
Switching

ATM Layer

Transmission Convergence Sublayer

HEC generation and checking
Transmission frame adaptation

Layer 1
(Physical)

Cell delineation
Decoupling of Cell Rate
(ITU systems)

Physical Media Dependant Sublayer

Encoding for transmission
Timing and synchronization

Transmission (Electrical/Optical)

Physical
Layer

Concept - QoS

QoS is associated with a VCC that specifies an average

bandwidth as well as a maximum bandwidth
QoS is provisioned for a VPC or VCC (VCCs within the
VPC may have a lower QoS than the VPC)
QoS parameters include:

Cell Transfer Delay (Network Latency)

Cell Delay Variation (Jitter)
Cell Transfer Capacity (Speed - average and peak allowed rates)
Cell Error Ratio
Cell Loss Ratio
Cell Misinsertion Rate

Concept - ATM Service Categories

Constant Bit Rate (CBR)

Includes traffic where a continuous stream of bits at a
predefined constant rate is transported through the
network (e.g., T1 circuit, voice)
Low latency, low jitter, low errors and cell loss

Realtime Variable Bit Rate (rt-VBR)

Like CBR in the sense that we want low latency, low jitter,
low errors and cell loss but the rate the bits can transmit
varies (e.g., compressed video, voice)

Non-realtime Variable Bit Rate (nrt-VBR)

Like rt-VBR except some latency and jitter might not cause a
problem (e.g., one-way TV distribution)

Concept - ATM Service Categories

Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR)

Provides best effort delivery of data. Good for end-to-end
applications that have flow control (high cell loss, high jitter and
latency)

Available Bit Rate (ABR)

Has guaranteed delivery but not delivery time (Limited cell loss, high
jitter and latency)
ABR has many other parameters and a technique (RM cell) to
manage this resource beyond the scope of this presentation

Application Areas for ATM

Service Categories
Application
Area
Critical Data
LAN interconnection
LAN emulation
Data
Transport/interworking
(IP-FR-SMDS)
Circuit Emulation-PABX
POTS/ISDN
-video conference
Compressed Video/Audio

CBR

rt-VBR

nrt-VRB

ABR

UBR

xx

xxx

N/S

xx

xxx

xx

xx

xxx

xx

xxx

xx

N/S

N/S

N/S

N/S

N/S

xxx
x

xxx

xx

xx

1-way TV Distribution

xx

xxx

N/S

N/S

Interactive Multimedia

xxx

xxx

xx

xx

Score to indicate the advantage:

Optimum: xxx Good: xx Fair: x
N/S: Not Suitable
Not Quoted: Presently considered not applicable with advantage
(might be shown in the future)

Concept Network Congestion & Policing

When congestion happens on ATM networks - Cell gets

discarded!!!
One mechanism to control congestion is to police packets as
they enter the network (i.e., UNI) or are passed between Nodes
(i.e., NNI)
Types of policing controls include:
Generic Flow Control (GFC) - Instructs the ATM network to employ
a flow control algorithm for cells in this connection.
Call Admission Control (CAC) - Done during establishing a
channel; makes sure the requested bandwidth exists and that the
QoS can be provided.
Traffic Policing and Shaping - Usage/Network Parameter Control
(UPC/NPC)

Concept Network Congestion & Policing

Checks the rate of the cells at the input to

ensure that arriving cells meet the traffic
profile (bandwidth and QoS) specifications.
If not, it can discard the cell or mark the cell
as eligible for discard.
Algorithm to determine if a cell should be
discarded is called Leaky bucket.
Explicit Forward Congestion Indicator
(EFCI) - If node is becoming congested,
it marks the cells. The end station then
hopefully throttles its traffic.

PVC - Manual Set Up

Console or
NMS GUI

VPI/VCI

14/1055
14/1055
87/
4

1
25/

25

9/47
9/47

Pre-established connections
Permanent
No signaling required

SVC - Automatic Set Up

Connect to B

OK
OK

Terminal B

Connect to B
OK
Connect to B

Terminal A

OK

Uses UNI 3.0/3.1 signaling

VPI/VCI = 0/5

Automatic
Transparent to User

ATM Network Interfaces

Public NNI
B-ICI

WAN

WAN

FUNI

Router
Remote
Site

Service
Provider

Public
UNI

Private
UNI

Customer
Premises
Private
NNI

Private
UNI

Public NNI

Network Node Interface (NNI)

The interface at a network node which is used to
interconnect with another network node

SONET/SDH interface is preferred

ANSI T1.105-1995 and ITU-T G.707 March 1996
Provides ATM mapping to 10 Gbps and beyond

Lets review SONET

STS- 1 Frame with ATM

87 Bytes

3 Bytes
3 Bytes

Section
Overhead

Line
6 Bytes Overhead

1X9
Byte

1X9
Byte

1X9
Byte

P
a
t
h

F
I
X

F
I
X

O
v
e
r
h
e
a
d

S
t
u
f
f

51.84 Mbps

ATM
Payload
48.384
Mbps

S
t
u
f
f

STS-3c Frame Structure

9 Bytes
3 Bytes

6 Bytes

Section
Overhead

Line
Overhead

261 Bytes
H

P
a
t
h
O
v
e
r
h
e
a
d

ATM Payload
149.76 Mbps

H
53 Bytes

155.52 Mbps

ATM Cell

STS-48c Frame Structure

15
Bytes

144 Bytes
3 Bytes

6 Bytes

Section
Overhead

Line
Overhead

4160 Bytes
H

P
a
t
h
O
v
e
r
h
e
a
d

F
i
x
e
d
S
t
u
f
f

ATM Payload
2.39616 Gbps

4176 Bytes
2.48832 Gbps

Fault Management Example

STE

PTE
Terminal

Repeater

LTE

ATM Switch

ATM Switch

ADM

VP

VC

LOS
Line AIS (AIS-L)

STS Path AIS (AIS-P)

RDI-L (formally Line FERF)

RDI-P (formally STS Yellow)
VP-RDI
VC-RDI

LOS- Loss of Signal

AIS- Alarm Indication Signal
RDI- Remote Defect Indication
FERF- Far End Receive Failure

VP-AIS

VC-AIS

ATMOperation and Maintenance Principles

Fault Management, using AIS, RDI, continuity check and

loopback OAM cells.
Performance management, using forward monitoring
and backward reporting OAM cells.
Activation/deactivation of performance monitoring
and/or continuity check, using activation/deactivation
OAM cells.
System management OAM cells for use by end-systems
only.

Concept - OAM

Operations, Administration and Maintenance (OAM)

ATM allows the maintenance/test operation to be
performed on a VPC or VCC.
These operations are performed on a selected basis;
they can span segments or can be end-to-end.
Types of maintenance/test operations:
Performance Monitoring - a VPC or VCC is monitored to ensure the
connection is not congested or has degraded (forward and
backward monitoring are provided)
Failure detection (AIS, RDI)
PM and Failure Reporting (RDI, PM results)
Facility Protection of VPCs
Fault Isolation (continuity checks and loopbacks)

I.610Operation and Maintenance Flows

Physical Layer Mechanism

F1: SONET Section Level
F2: SONET Line Level
F3: SONET Path Level

ATM Layer Mechanism

F4: Virtual Path Level
End to end F4 flow
Segment F4 flow

F5: Virtual Channel Level

End to end F5 flow
Segment F5 flow

Fault Management Example

Using F1 - F5 Flows

STE

PTE
LOS
Terminal

Repeater

X
F1

F2 (AIS-L)

LTE

ATM Switch

ATM Switch

ADM

VP

VC

F3 (AIS-P)

F2 (RDI-L)
F3 (RDI-P)
F4 (VP-RDI)
F5 (VC-RDI)

F4 (VP-AIS)

F5 (VC-AIS)

Example of Mechanism
for OAM Flows
VCC
endpoint

VP cross-connect

VC cross-connect

AAL
Physical layer
connecting point

AT
M
PL

PL

PL

AT
M
PL

AT
M
PL

AT
M
PL
VCI 1

VCI 1

VCC
endpoint

AAL
AT
M
PL

AT
M
PL
VCI 2

VCI 2

Virtual channel OAM cell indicated by PT identifier F5

VPI 1

VPI 1

VPI 2

VPI 2

Virtual path connection uses VCI(=3/4) for OAM F4

Transmission path F3

F1, F2

F1, F2

Trans path F3

F1, F2

VPI 3

VPI 3

VPC - OAM F4
Trans path F3

F1, F2

Layered Model of AIS & RDI

VC-AIS (F5)
VP-AIS (F4)

VC

VC-RDI (F5)

VP

VP-RDI (F4)

AIS-P (F3)

PATH

RDI-P (F3)

AIS-L (F2)

LINE

RDI-L (F2)

(F1)

SECTION

(BIP-8 PM, F1)

PHYSICAL

(Layer to layer indications)

(Peer to peer indications)

The ATM Adaptation Layer

The AAL process is the most important feature of the ATM

Communications process...
How the Adaptation process is carried out depends on the type
of service to be transported...
AAL TYPE SERVICE TYPE

COMMENTS

AAL1

Isochronous Traffic like DS0,

DS1s, DS3s to carry Voice
For data services, compressed
Audio / Video, etc.
Bursty data over long periods

AAL2
AAL3
AAL4
AAL5

Constant Bit Rate

CBR
Variable Bit Rate
VBR
Connection-Oriented
for VBR Data
Transfer
Connectionless VBR
Data Transfer
Simplified AAL

For short, bursty data (SMDS)

Mainly for point-to-point

Classes of ATM Service

CLASS A
Timing Relation Between
Source & Destination
Bit Rate
Connection Mode
AAL Types

CLASS B

Required

CLASS D

Not Required

Constant

Variable

CONNECTION ORIENTED
1

CLASS C

CONNECTION-LESS
3/4, 5

3/4

The AAL Process

AAL is divided
into two
sublayers:

USER INFORMATION

CS Process
CS-PDU
1) CONVERGENCE
SUBLAYER
2) SEGMENTATION &
REASSEMBLY SUBLAYER

CS-PDU

CS-PDU

SAR Process
SAR-PDU

SAR-PDU

SAR-PDU

SAR-PDU

These two sublayers convert the user information into 48-byte cell
payloads. Each sublayer produces a Protocol Data Unit (PDU).
The CS-PDU is variable length while the SAR-PDU is always 48 bytes.

AAL-1 Processing

Payload

Header

SN Field
4 Bits
1
CSI

2 3 4
Sequence
Count

SNP Field
4 Bits
1 2 3
CRC

PDU Payload (47 Octets)

4
Parity

SN: Sequence Number

SNP: Sequence Number Protection
CSI: Convergence Sublayer Indicator

AAL-2 Processing
CPS-Packet
Header (3 octets)

CPS-Packet
Payload (1 to 45/64 octets)

CPS-Packet
Cell Header
(5 octets)

Start Field
(1 Octet)

CPS-PDU Payload( up
to 47 octets and pad)

CPS-PDU
ATM Cell
Each AAL2 user generates CPS packets with a 3-octet packet header and a variable
length payload. The CPS sublayer collects CPS packets from AAL2 users multiplexed
onto the same VCC over a specified interval of time, forming CPS-PDU, comprised of
48 octets worth of CPS packets.

The AAL Process:

AAL 3/4 CS-PDU
CS-PDU

CPI

BTag

BASize Information

Pad

AL

ETag Length

CPI: Common Point Indicator - 1 Byte

BTag: Beginning Tag - 1 Byte
BA Size: Buffer Allocation Size - 2 Bytes
Info Payload: Length of Payload (Max: 65, 535 Bytes)
Pad: Up to 3 Bytes - used to align CS-PDU length
AL: Alignment - 1 Byte
ETag: End Tag - 1 Byte
Length: 2 Bytes

AAL 3/4

CPI BTag BASize

AAL SEVICE DATA UNIT

AAL - SDU

44 Bytes

BOM

SequenceSequence
Type
Number
2 BITS

4 BITS

MID
10 BITS

2 Bytes

BOM: Beginning of message

Payload

Al

Fill Length ETag

44 Bytes
Length
Indicator
6 BITS

CRC
10 BITS

2 Bytes

MID: Message Identifier

Convergence
Sublayer
Protocol
Length Data Unit:
CS-PDU

44 Bytes

Payload
COM

Payload
EOM
Segmentation &
Reassembly
Protocol Data
Unit:
SAR-PDU

BASIZE: Buffer Allocation Size

COM: Continuation of message CRC: Cyclic Redundancy Check BTAG: Beginning Tag
EOM: End of message
EOM: End of message
ETAG: End Tag

The AAL Process:

AAL5 CPCS-PDU

CPCS-PDU
CPCS-PDU
Trailer
CPCS-PDU Payload
1 - 65,535

PAD CPCS-UU CPI

0- 47

Length CRC
2

Unit: octets

PAD: Padding
UU: User-to-User Indication
CPI: Common Part Indicator

LENGTH: CPCS-PDU Length

CRC: Cyclic Redundancy Check
CPCS: Common Part Convergence Sublayer

AAL-5
AAL Service Data Unit (SDU)

AAL5-SDUs

AAL5-SAP

1-65,535 octets

CPCS-PDU Payload

CPCS-PDUs
octets

CPCS-PDU
Trailer

PAD

CPCS-UU CPI Length CRC

0-47

Header
5

SAR
Payload

SAR
Payload

Payload

Header Payload

48

48

Payload Type=
AAL_Indicate

Header
5

SAR
Payload

Payload
48

SAR-PDUs
ATM-SAP
Cells
Octets

Network Management for ATM

The Role of SNMP - RFC-1157

Integrated Local Management Interface - ILMI
ILMI-MIB - ATM Forum
AToM-MIB - RFC-2515

The Role of SNMP

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) has become widely

accept in the LAN industry as an open standard for managing
equipment from multiple vendors

SNMP is supported by various WAN systems vendors

Bellcore is using SNMP for their customer network management

capabilities

SNMP V2 addresses some of the bandwidth utilization, and security

issues that were present in SNMP V1

SNMP V3 is being defined in IETF

ILMI utilizes the SNMP protocol as an interim solution

Using RFC1577 - (IP & ARP over ATM) it is now possible to manage
ATM networks from a central (or multiple) NMS, using SNMP/UDP/IP
packets encapsulated in AAL5

Integrated Local
Management Interface
NETWORK MANAGEMENT
STATION or SUBSYSTEM

Beyond the Scope

of ILMI Specification

Remotely
Accessible
Agent

Remotely
Accessible
Agent
Private
UNI

UME
ATM
End-System

Public
UNI

UME UME
ILMI
(SNMP/AAL)

UME
UME: UNI Management Entity

Private
ATM Switch
ILMI
(SNMP/AAL)
Public UNI

UME
ILMI
(SNMP/AAL)

Public Network
ATM Switch

UME

Functions of ILMI

ILMI PERFORMS THE FOLLOWING TASKS:

Basic Configuration information
PVC Status Indication in FR/ATM Service
Interworking
ILMI Connectivity detection and auto neighbor
discovery
Address registration for SVC and PNNI
ABR attribute setting for SVC
Auto-configuration of a LAN Emulation Client - LEC

ILMI MIB

MIB specification in ATM UNI 3.X and 4.0

Management information includes:
Physical Layer
ATM Layer
ATM Layer Statistics
Virtual Path (VP) Connections
Virtual Channel (VC) Connections
Network Prefix
Network Address
Service Registry

ATM Management MIB - ATOM

Structure of the MIB groups:

Configuration
DS3 PLCP
TC Sublayer
Virtual Link Configuration
VP/VC cross-connect
Network Address
AAL Connection Performance Statistics
Reference: RFC 1695 & 2515

REFERENCES

ATM Forum Documents - www.atmforum.com

GR-1248 - Generic Requirements for Operations on ATM
NEs
I.363 & 365 - ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) Sublayer
I.610 - BISDN OAM Principles and Functions
RFC2761 - Terminology for ATM Benchmarking