ALPEN: An ATM multi-protocol emulation network based on periodical performance checks between edge nodes

Abstract

This paper proposes a new network architecture, ALPEN (ATM multi-protocol emulation network), based on a new concept for realizing full-scale multimedia communication networks. In ALPEN, various communication protocols, such as ABR (available bit rate), FRM (fast resource management), or SHM (short hold mode), can be handled using a single, simple transit network. Each protocol is emulated at the edge node of the WAN (wide area network), and the status of the transit network is checked by periodically examining the residual bandwidth information of each route. ALPEN is a cost-effective and flexible network architecture because it enables us to implement new services or protocols easily by modifying only the edge nodes. In ALPEN, since individual edge nodes periodically obtain the bandwidth information, it is possible to respond promptly to a user's request to change his bandwidth. In particular, when the network's RTT (round trip time) is long, as in a WAN, ALPEN is a promising way to resolve the problem of performance responsibility. Although each edge node periodically checks the disperse information to all destination edge nodes on a residual bandwidth, the information might be old, or it might be necessary to process it independently at the multiple edge nodes. Therefore, the parameter of “effective residual bandwidth” is estimated by a statistical method; the estimation also considers that bandwidth resources may be overbooked by multiple edge nodes. The statistical method is described in this paper. The ALPEN introduced in this paper is an effective architecture that makes it possible to implement new or various unforeseeable network services in the future multimedia era, in which various services and protocols may exist simultaneously. © 1998 Scripta Technica. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 1, 81(8): 19–31, 1998