A comparative analysis of signaling systems and protocols for ATM networks

ATM provides elaborate signaling support for dynamic establishment and release of switched virtual circuits. The information necessary for traffic contracting is exchanged between the user and the network through the signaling messages. ATM signaling standards exist for both point-to-point as well as point-to-multipoint signaling model. The tasks and procedures defined for setting-up an ATM connection are often very different concerning the relevant specifications of various working bodies (such as ITU-T or ATM-Forum) or certain vendors, although the basics for maintaining ATM connections are always principally the same. The reason for this situation is that the intentions of working bodies are different and each one of them follows specific strategies for certain scenarios (such as for point-to-point or point-to-multipoint). This comparative analysis of signaling systems and protocols for ATM networks identifies several important characteristics and relevant scenarios of selected approaches.