Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)

The Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Consortium formed in October of 1993. The consortium focused on ATM as a LAN-based technology, concentrating efforts in ILMI 4.0, IMA 1.0, IMA 1.1, LANE 1.0, LANE 2.0, MPOA 1.0, MPOA 1.1, PNNI 1.0, PNNI 2.0, RFC-1577, RFC-2225, RFC-1483, RFC-2684, UNI 3.0, UNI 3.1, and UNI 4.0.

The ATM Consortium was a member of the ATM Forum and was active in the development of the LANE 1.0 (af-lane-0021.000) and other early specifications. The consortium staff also contributed test cases and corrections to the ATM Forum’s Interoperability Test for PNNI Version 1.0 (af-test-csra-0111.000) and MPOA 1.1 (af-mpoa-0114.000) specifications, as well as to the IETF’s RFC-2684.

Over its lifetime, the ATM Consortium hosted more than a dozen Group Test Periods, which covered technologies including LANE, UNI, PNNI, MPOA, and ILMI. The consortium also worked with Interphase Corporation to conduct additional open plugfests at the Interphase test facility in Dallas, TX, and provided assistance with Networld+Interop technology demonstrations.

The significance of ATM as a networking technology cannot be overstated. Estimates are that in the late 1990s more than 70% of all Internet traffic flowed over ATM connections and ATM is still widely deployed in voice networks and legacy data networks. Some of the technical innovations at the core of ATM technologies have been modified and applied to newer technologies such as Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS). The connection-oriented nature of ATM gave it the flexibility and security to handle virtually any communication application, the advanced connection signaling allowed it to make efficient use of bandwidth, and the small cell size made it suitable for any payload type, including voice, video, and data.

Having served more than 80 member companies and organizations over the course of its existence, the ATM Consortium became a testing service in 2001 and was officially closed in June of 2002. Please contact us if you have any questions about this or any other consortium or technology.