Asynchronous transfer mode or synchronous transfer mode or both

Some of the problem areas attendant upon the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) concept are addressed. Concern is chiefly with the use of small, fixed-length packets and the issue of congestion control. It is argued that broadband ISDN services should not be tied down to ATM as presently standardized, because ATM has several problems when embedded in a wide area network with diverse services.<<ETX>>