Abstract:

Traffic in local area networks is characterized by considerable \"burstiness\", even traffic representing continuous data types such as audio or video which require real-time network guarantees. Existing algorithms for implementing real-time channels assume large or unlimited buffer space in network switches in order to buffer entire messages. However, such large buffers also imply large worst-case delays and high jitter. An alternative approach in an ATM network is to move the buffering to the client interface and to transmit cells of a real-time channel more uniformly. This allows the network to guarantee tighter deadlines and less jitter and to reduce the amount of reserved buffer space required to support the real-time channels at each switch. It is argued that this is practical in local area networks, even when it is not always practical in wider area networks.