Asynchronous transfer mode

25 Mbps ATM network card with PCI interface and twisted pair connection.

Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) is a telecommunication technology developed to cope with the high demand for transmission capacity for services and applications.

ATM is a recent network technology that, unlike Ethernet, ring network and FDDI, allows the simultaneous transfer of data and voice across the same line.

The ATM was developed with CNET. Unlike synchronous networks (such as telephone networks, for example), where data is transmitted synchronously, that is, bandwidth is shared (multiplexed) between users according to a temporary unbundling, an ATM network transfers asynchronously, which means that it will transmit the data when it can. While synchronous networks do not transmit anything if the user has nothing to transmit, the ATM network will use these gaps to transmit other data, ensuring optimum bandwidth. In addition, ATM networks only transmit packets in the form of cells with a length of 53 bytes (5 header bytes and 48 bytes of data) and include identifiers that enable the quality of service (QoS) to be known, among others things. The quality of service represents a priority indicator for packages that depend on the current network speed. Therefore, ATM enables the transfer of data at speeds ranging from 25 Mbps to more than 622 Mbps (it is even expected that speeds reach more than 2 Gbps through the optical fiber). Because the hardware required for ATM networks is expensive, telecom operators basically use them for long distance lines.

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