Toshiba's Router Architecture Extensions for ATM : Overview

This memo describes a new internetworking architecture which makes better use of the property of ATM. IP datagrams are transferred along hop-by-hop path via routers, but datagram assembly/disassembly and IP header processing are not necessarily carried out at individual routers in the proposed architecture. A concept of "Cell Switch Router (CSR)" is introduced as a new internetworking equipment, which has ATM cell switching capabilities in addition to conventional IP datagram forwarding. Proposed architecture can provide applications with high-throughput and low-latency ATM pipes while retaining current router-based internetworking concept. It also provides applications with specific QoS/bandwidth by cooperating with internetworking level resource reservation protocols such as RSVP.