Table Of Contents

Preface

Purpose

Audience

New and Changed Information

Organization

Related Documentation

Conventions

Cisco Connection Online

Documentation CD-ROM

Preface

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This preface describes the purpose, audience, organization, and conventions of this Guide to ATM Technology, and provides information on how to obtain related documentation.

Purpose

This guide is intended to provide an introduction to the concepts and functionality of ATM technology. It provides descriptions of ATM networking applications and examples of their use, and overviews of configuring features on the Catalyst 8540 MSR, Catalyst 8510 MSR, and LightStream 1010 ATM switch routers.

Audience

This guide is intended for network administrators and others who are responsible for designing and implementing ATM in their networks using the Catalyst 8540 MSR, Catalyst 8510 MSR, and LightStream 1010 ATM switch routers. This guide is intended to provide a knowledge base for using the ATM Switch Router Software Configuration Guide. Experienced users who are knowledgeable about ATM might want to go directly to that guide and its companion, the ATM Switch Router Command Reference publication.

New and Changed Information

The following table lists the changes and additions to this guide:

Feature	Description	Chapter
RFC 1483	Supported on the ATM router module	"Layer 3 Protocols over ATM"
RFC 1577	Supported on the ATM router module	"Layer 3 Protocols over ATM"

Organization

This guide is organized as follows:

Chapter	Title	Description
Chapter 1	ATM Technology Fundamentals	Provides a brief overview of ATM technology and introduces fundamental concepts required for configuring ATM equipment
Chapter 2	ATM Signaling and Addressing	Describes the role of signaling and addressing in ATM networks
Chapter 3	ATM Network Interfaces	Provides descriptions of ATM network interface types, their applications, and configuration
Chapter 4	Virtual Connections	Provides an overview of virtual connection types, their applications, and configuration
Chapter 5	Layer 3 Protocols over ATM	Discusses the concepts and use of classical IP over ATM and multiprotocol encapsulation over ATM
Chapter 6	LAN Emulation and MPOA	Provides descriptions of the LAN emulation, and Multiprotocol Over ATM (MPOA) protocols
Chapter 7	ATM Routing with IISP and PNNI	Provides overviews of the Interim Interswitch Signaling Protocol (IISP) and Private Network-Network Interface (PNNI) routing protocols
Chapter 8	Network Clock Synchronization	Discusses the issue of network clock synchronization and provides guidelines for network clock configuration
Chapter 9	Circuit Emulation Services and Voice over ATM	Provides background information and configuration overviews for circuit emulation services (CES) and the Simple Gateway Control protocol used in transport of voice over ATM
Chapter 10		Provides an overview of the mechanisms and features used in managing traffic in an ATM switch router network
Chapter 11	Tag Switching	Provides an introduction to tag switching, or Multiprotocol Label Switching, technology
Chapter 12	Frame Relay to ATM Interworking	Provides an introduction to interworking between Frame Relay and ATM devices and describes the uses of the channelized Frame Relay port adapters

Related Documentation

The following related software documentation is available for the Catalyst 8540 MSR, Catalyst 8510 MSR, and LightStream 1010 ATM switch:

•ATM Switch Router Quick Software Configuration Guide

•ATM Switch Router Software Configuration Guide

•ATM Switch Router Command Reference

•ATM Switch Router Troubleshooting Guide

Conventions

Notes use the following conventions:

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Note Means reader take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to material not covered in the publication.

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Tips use the following conventions:

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Tips Means the following are useful tips.

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Cautions use the following conventions:

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Caution Means reader be careful. In this situation, you might do something that could result in equipment damage or loss of data.

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CCO serves a wide variety of users through two interfaces that are updated and enhanced simultaneously: a character-based version and a multimedia version that resides on the World Wide Web (WWW). The character-based CCO supports Zmodem, Kermit, Xmodem, FTP, and Internet e-mail, and it is excellent for quick access to information over lower bandwidths. The WWW version of CCO provides richly formatted documents with photographs, figures, graphics, and video, as well as hyperlinks to related information.

You can access CCO in the following ways:

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For a copy of CCO's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), contact cco-help@cisco.com. For additional information, contact cco-team@cisco.com.

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Note If you are a network administrator and need personal technical assistance with a Cisco product that is under warranty or covered by a maintenance contract, contact Cisco's Technical Assistance Center (TAC) at 800 553-2447, 408 526-7209, or tac@cisco.com. To obtain general information about Cisco Systems, Cisco products, or upgrades, contact 800 553-6387, 408 526-7208, or cs-rep@cisco.com.

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