Design and evaluation of a control plane architecture for the ATM access network

The dynamic operation of ATM access networks (ANs) calls for the incorporation of advanced signalling functionality also in the access part of the ATM core network. Instead of implementing the entire control plane in the AN, we take advantage of the separation between call, bearer and channel control and we proceed with a simple, standard compliant bearer channel control architecture for the ATM AN. We evaluate our proposal in terms of additional call set-up delay by means of analysis. Results demonstrate the benefits of our approach as opposed to the complexity and performance degradation brought about with the use of Q.2931 in the AN.