RFC 2226 (rfc2226) - Page 1 of 14

IP Broadcast over ATM Networks

Network Working Group                                           T. Smith
Request for Comments: 2226                               IBM Corporation
Category: Standards Track                                    G. Armitage
                                                     Lucent Technologies
                                                            October 1997


                     IP Broadcast over ATM Networks


Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1997).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This memo describes how the IP multicast service being developed by
   the IP over ATM working group may be used to support IP broadcast
   transmission. The solution revolves around treating the broadcast
   problem as a special case of multicast, where every host in the
   subnet or cluster is a member of the group.

   An understanding of the services provided by RFC 2022 is assumed.

1.  Introduction.


   The IETF's first step in solving the problems of running IP over
   Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology is described in RFC 1577
   [1].  It provides for unicast communication between hosts and routers
   within Logical IP Subnets (LISs), and proposes a centralized ATM ARP
   Server which provides IP to ATM address resolution services to LIS
   members.

   Two classes of IP service were omitted - multicast and broadcast
   transmissions. Multicasting allows a single transmit operation to
   cause a packet to be received by multiple remote destinations.






Smith & Armitage            Standards Track