The future of ATM

Simple answer: None

Why? Simplicity wins!

• IBM Nways switches - switching backplane
• Ipsilon (http://www.ipsilon.com/) - IP switch technology
  • IP software on top of ATM hardware via two protocols:
    • Generic Switch Management Protocol (GSMP) - ~2000 lines of code (manages ATM hardware)
    • Ipsilon Flow Management Protocol (IFMP) < 10,000 lines of code
  • Ipsilon IP Switch ATM1600 upto 5.3 million IP packets/sec.
• Ascend Communications, Inc. - GRF IP switches (formerly NetStar Inc.)
  • GRF 1600 - 10 million packets/second (with a fully loaded 16-slot configuration of high-speed media cards)
  • Each card supports upto 1 Gbit/sec
• Cisco
  • Netflows - shipping as standard software since fall 1996
  • Tag Switching
• Juniper Networks
  • targeting the WAN router market