RFC 1680 (rfc1680) - Page 2 of 7
IPng Support for ATM Services
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 1680 IPng Support for ATM Services August 1994
information.
An IPng candidate should provide evidence that the mapping from an
applications' IPng packets to ATM virtual circuit(s) can be
accomplished in a heterogeneous Internet architecture keeping in
consideration the gigabit/sec rates that IPng/ATM subnetworks will
eventually be operating at.
1. Introduction
This paper describes parameters that are needed to map IPng (or any
protocol operating above the link level) to ATM services. ATM is a
"sophisticated" link level technology which provides the potential
capability for applications at the TCP/UDP level to map to a single
ATM virtual circuit for transport across an ATM network(s) customized
to the network performance and traffic requirements for that
application. This is a step above many of today's existing link
technologies which can only support a single level of network
performance that must be shared by all applications operating on a
single endpoint.
The future Internet will be comprised of both conventional and
"sophisticated" link technologies. The "sophisticated" features of
link layers like ATM need to be incorporated into an internet where
data travels not only across an ATM network but also several other
existing LAN and WAN technologies. Future networks are likely to be a
combination of subnetworks providing best-effort link level service
such as Ethernet and also sophisticated subnetworks that can support
quality of service-based connections like ATM. One can envision data
originating from an Ethernet, passing through an ATM network, FDDI
network, another ATM network, and finally arriving at its destination
residing on a HIPPI network. IPng packets will travel through such a
list of interconnected network technologies as ATM is incorporated as
one of the components of the future Internet.
To support per application customizable link level connections, four
types of ATM information should be derivable from the higher level
protocol(s) like IPng. This ATM information includes: source and
destination ATM addresses, connection quality of service parameters,
connection state, and an ATM virtual circuit identifier which maps to
a single IPng application (i.e., single TCP/UDP application). Some of
these mapping could potentially be derivable through information
provided by proposed resource reservation protocols supporting an
integrated services Internet [4]. However, the ATM virtual circuit
identifier needs to be efficiently mappable from IPng packet
information.
Brazdziunas