ATM IMPLEMENTATION CONSIDERATIONS

In the academic arena, ATM technology facilitates fast, reliable, and dependable access to an expanding array of Web initiatives and institutional resources. ATM enables tele-education, telementoring, and real-time interactions with subject experts in remote locations; multimedia applications; and curricular enhancement and enrichment. ATM also promotes deployment of virtual schools, virtual universities, virtual museums, and virtual communities.

ATM pilot trials and initiatives support the design and implementation of extendible, reliable, and scalable ATM configurations to accommodate current and anticipated network requirements. In addition, the ATM platform delivers high-capacity, high-speed multimedia services and applications. However, it is also important to note that major regulatory, technical, logistical, and economic issues associated with ATM deployment remain unresolved. As a consequence, the ATM acronym also stands for “All That Money.”

ATM is an evolving technology. As a consequence, standards and testing methods are still in development. Congestion on ATM networks can lead to cell loss before traditional network tools detect problems. Problems associated with providing effective traffic management, seamless network performance, and network-level security for information integrity and high-speed interactive data, video, and voice delivery must be resolved through further research. ATM functions are also constrained by the lack of cross-vendor support.

Migration to an ATM solution typically requires acquisition of ATM products and services from a single vendor. The majority of ATM switches in use by early adopters of ATM technology are expected to be incompatible with next-generation ATM switches. As a result, replacement of expensive in-place ATM switches with costly next-generation ATM switches appears to be necessary for enabling ATM services.

Successful ATM deployment requires the use of carefully executed measures to manage traffic flows and accommodate application requirements. Inasmuch as ATM support of multiple QoS parameters contributes to difficulties in managing ATM configurations, development and implementation of network management policies are indispensable in facilitating realization of the full potential of ATM technology.

An understanding of ATM technical capabilities is essential in order to effectively address pedagogical challenges associated with ATM implementation. Although ATM supports multifaceted options for information delivery to the desktop, SOHO venues, and local and wider area environments, deployment of ATM technology does not automatically guarantee its effective utilization in the educational domain. In implementing ATM applications and services in school and university environments, the capabilities of the proposed infrastructure must be determined. Requirements for a high-performance ATM infrastructure that is modular, reliable, secure, expandable, and available to accommodate bandwidth demands over time must be clarified. Effective ATM implementation in the tele-education milieu also involves developing ATM telelearning paradigms for supporting problem-solving skills and accomplishment of learning goals and objectives. Effective ATM deployment in the telelearning environment ultimately depends on its ability to foster knowledge-building competencies and exploratory learning, quality education, and focused research and facilitate instructional innovation and creativity. Future research involving ATM deployment in school and university settings must also focus on the practical design and deployment of pedagogical strategies and collaborative instructional activities for optimizing student skills in broadband tele-education environments.

In the broadband networking arena, ATM’s major competitor is Gigabit Ethernet technology. Gigabit Ethernet technology is compatible with the installed base of Ethernet and Fast Ethernet solutions in local area and wider area network environments. In comparison to ATM, Gigabit Ethernet does not provision information transport with QoS guarantees. However, Gigabit Ethernet leverages capabilities of newer technologies and protocols such as the Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) and the MultiProtocol Link Aggregation (MPLA) protocol to support scalable bandwidth, fault tolerance, network resiliency, and streamlined packet transmission for provisioning higher-level networking services. In addition, Gigabit Ethernet implementations are more affordable and easier to implement than complex ATM solutions.


SUMMARY

There is a growing consensus that ATM reliably and dependably accommodates requirements for high-speed, high-performance networking operations while also enabling a seamless migration path to the network of the future. Increasing numbers of ATM field trials and full-scale implementations demonstrate ATM capabilities in providing access to worldwide learning resources and supporting innovative telelearning activities and applications.
Distinctive attributes of major national and international ATM initiatives and research efforts that contribute to establishing a global ATM infrastructure are examined. ATM systems featuring a mix of wireline and wireless technologies for enabling transborder interdisciplinary research and global connectivity to innovative instructional programs are explored.

ATM technology is uniquely suited for supporting error-free multimedia transport in high-speed network configurations. Moreover, ATM is an enabler of network traffic consolidation, thereby streamlining network management operations and optimizing utilization of high-speed network connections. In addition, ATM provisions networking services via twisted copper pair, optical fiber, and hybrid optical fiber and coaxial cable (HFC) wireline media and wireless technical solutions. National and international standards organizations such as the ITU-T, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) endorse ATM specifications.

ATM solutions are designed to function in multiservice, multivendor environments. However, debate persists about the suitability of ATM technology in accommodating mission, goals, and requirements economically and effectively in the academic arena. Potential barriers to ATM deployment include high costs, lack of universally accepted standards, restricted geographical availability, equipment incompatibilities, and insufficient research data on the capabilities of ATM in provisioning Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees.

Despite these constraints, ATM is regarded as a key enabler for tele-education, telebusiness, E-government, and telemedicine applications. ATM provisions dependable Internet, intranet, and extranet connectivity; facilitates implementation of Virtual Reality (VR) applications; and supports reliable access to broadband multimedia services.

ATM networks resolve problems associated with internetwork congestion and enable seamless voice, video, and data transmission over wireless, wireline, and hybrid wireline and wireless network configurations. In the distance education domain, ATM enables access to new student populations in remote locations, promotes transborder research and telecollaboration, and facilitates curricular enrichment. Globally, ATM technology supports development and deployment of major research and education networks such as Abilene, vBNS+, Internet2, ESnet, CA*net II, and SuperJANET4. Moreover, ATM promotes incorporation of emergent network architectures, protocols, and transmission technologies into an integrated infrastructure. Continued research on the design and implementation of pedagogical approaches and methods for supporting student learning and achievement in ATM instructional settings is essential for achieving effective ATM implementation in school and university environments.