There has been growing interest in Broadband ISDN (B-ISDN) based on ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) technologies, since ATM is expected to support a wide range of applications through high-speed and flexible multimedia communication capabilities. This paper reviews and discusses technical issues on multimedia communication protocols and services from the integration points of view of computer and communication technologies. An ISDN-based distributed multimedia and multi-party desktop conference system called MERMAID is introduced as an example which offers highly-sophisticated functions for remote collaborations among multiple users. This system, which was developed in early 1989 and has been used for daily research work since then, involves B-ISDN key technologies related to multimedia and multicast protocols, and computer architecture for groupware applications.

A local area network (LAN) can now provide high-speed data communications in a local area environment to establish distributed processing among personal computers and workstations, and the need for interconnecting LANs, which are geographically distributed, is naturally arising. Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology has been widely recognized as a promising way to provide the high-speed wide area networks (WAN) for Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (B-ISDN), and the commercial service offerings are expected in the near future. The ATM network seems to have a capability as a backbone network for interconnecting LANs, and the LAN interconnection is expected to be the first service in ATM networks. However, there remain some technical challenges for this purpose; one of the main difficulties in LAN interconnection is the support of connectionless traffic by the ATM network, which is basically a connection-oriented network. Another one is the way of achieving the very high-speed data transmission over the ATM network. In this paper, we first discuss a LAN internetworking methodology based on the current technology. Then, the recent deployments of LAN interconnection methods through B-ISDN are reviewed.

This paper describes a future private network service and the system configurations for providing it. Technologies and service trends in local area and wide area networks are shown. As network services become more diversified and integrated, it becomes more difficult for users to use the networks effectively. This paper shows how this problem can be solved by using virtual network technology to attain seamless networking. It also presents the concept of group networking among many parties, which can be used as the basis for a virtual private network.

This paper proposes a datagram delivery (class D service) architecture in an ATM-Internet, which is the network interconnecting ATM-LANs through the IWUs, Inter-Working Unit. We can provide a fast datagram delivery system through the following techniques. The datagram delivery to the destination terminal is performed by the datagram delivery server, so called CLS, which is located in the ATM-LAN where the destination terminal belongs to. Each CLS only manages the addresses for the terminals belonging to the corresponding ATM-LAN. The cells belonging to a certain datagram are transferred through a single (seamless) ATM connection from the source terminal to the CLS in the ATM-LAN where the destination terminal belongs to. The source terminal only resolves the access point address corresponding to the ATM-LAN where the destination terminal belongs to, when it submits the cells to the network to transfer the datagram to the corresponding destination terminal. The proposed datagram delivery architecture can be applied to the ATM-LAN system based on VPI routing architecture, easily. The number of the required ATM connections so as to provide datagram delivery through the proposed architecture is less than 1.0% of the ATM connections that the ATM-Internet can provide. Also, the required address space at UNI to provide datagram delivery are less than 1.0% of the UNI address space which is available to be used as an ATM connection identifier.

This paper deals with methods for interconnection between two local private networks that are geographically separated. A scheme is first presented to chain low bit-rate physical circuits into one logical circuit, over which ATM cells are transmitted as if there is one circuit with a high bit-rate capacity. In particular, use of existing low bit-rate circuits, e.g., 384/1536 kbit/s PDH leased line services and N-ISDN switched channels, is considered. The paper discusses two methods to permit chaining of physical circuits, and identifies their advantages and applications. By using the ATM-based circuit-chaining method, dynamic capacity control of the interconnection is then introduced with the use of an ATM-based rate adaptation. This is intended to provide a flexible and cost-effective capacity control compared to the existing TDM-based control. It is also possible to realize non-stop operation of changing capacity by establishment and release of chained circuits, which will lead to high reliability and robustness of private networks. Finally, delay characteristics introduced by the method are evaluated based on a computer simulation which gives a short and acceptable delay.

This paper discusses a way of identifying the network configuration of ATM-LANs, which are composed of a number of ATM hubs. In general, a Network Management System (NMS) sets and gets the necessary data to and from the network elements. In managing an ATM-LAN, the ATM connection between the NMS and each network element, namely the ATM hub, must be established in order to get and set the necessary data. This forms a remarkable contrast with conventional LANs such as the IEEE802.3 LAN, which is a shared media network and enables broadcast communication without setting up any connection. This paper proposes a new protocol and a procedure that establishes the ATM connection between the NMS and each ATM hub, while identifying the overall network configuration. First, this paper makes clear the peculiarity of the ATM-LAN in terms of automatically identifying the network configuration. Next, the identification protocol that achieves the required properties is precisely explained. Then, the proposed identification protocol is evaluated in terms of required bandwidth and identification time.

It is important for distributed computing environments that communication networks are transparent to applications. This allows applications to make the best use of computer resources, To realize network transparency, communication platforms which support distributed computing environments should have a system configuration like an extension of a workstation's internal bus. Such communication platforms require high-speed communication paths, ability to handle different transmission speeds, high reliability, and scalability. This paper proposes a broadband distributed data network which satisfies the above requirements, and provides a distributed computing environment. Our system uses basic nodes called ATM-HUBs and ATM-Gateways (ATM-GWs) as its central components. The nodes consist of cell switch modules which can be made up of building blocks, ATM interface modules, and other functional modules. The switch module is connected to functional modules through a unified interface. The ATM-HUB in particular has conventional LAN interface modules. Using the conventional LAN interface and ATM interface module in an ATM-HUB, a wide variety of terminals, including conventional LAN terminals and ATM terminals, can be accommodated, so offering flexibility of communication modes to users. Furthermore, the use of star wiring around the ATM-HUB and media access control (MAC) address routing gives a higher transfer rate comparable to the speed of a physical transmission line for communication between ATM terminals, or between conventional LAN terminals.

Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) shared buffer switches have numerous advantages, but have the principal disadvantage that all switch traffic must pass through the bottleneck of a single memory. To achieve the most efficient usage of this bottleneck, the shared buffer is made blockable, resulting in a switch architecture that we call "throttled-buffer", which has several advantageous properties. Shared buffer efficiency is maximized while decreasing both capacity and power requirements. Asynchronous operation is possible, whereby peak link data rates are allowed to approach the aggregate switch rate. Multicasting is also efficiently supported. The architecture and operation of this low-cost switch are described in detail.

This paper discusses how to provide selective broadcast communication for a group of multiple entities in a distributed system by using high-speed communication networks. In the group communication, protocol data units (PDUs) sent by each entity have to be delivered atomically in some order to all the destinations in the group. In distributed applications, each entity sends a PDU only to a subset rather than all the entities, and each entity needs to receive all the PDUs destined to it from every entity in the same order as they are sent. We name such a broadcast service a selective order-preserving broadcast (SP) service. In this paper, we discuss how to design a distributed, asynchronous protocol which provides the SP service for entities.

In this paper, we study a dynamic bandwidth control which is expected an effective use of network resources in transmitting highly bursty traffic generated by, e.g., interconnected LAN systems. First, a new LAN traffic model is proposed in which correlation of not only packet interarrival times but also packet lengths are considered. An analytic model for a LAN-ATM gateway is next introduced. It employs the dynamic bandwidth control using the proposed LAN traffic model and some performance measures are derived by it. The analytic model takes into account the probability that a bandwidth increase request may be rejected. Finally, some numerical examples are provided using the analysis method and performance comparisons between the dynamic and fixed bandwidth controls are made. As a result, it is quantitatively indicated that () if the equivalent bandwidth is used in average, the dynamic bandwidth control keeps packet and cell loss rates one to two orders lower than the fixed bandwidth control, () when the more strict QOS in terms of loss rate is requested, the dynamic bandwidth control can become more effective.

This paper describes a new method to estimate traffic load of communication nodes, such as switching systems. The new method uses the system identification, which is often used in designing control systems of real systems. First, this paper makes clear that, under certain conditions, the input and output relation of a communication system, which is composed of a number of communication nodes, is formulated into a dynamic state equation that is classed as a time-invariant, single-input single-output, discrete-time system. Next, it is explained that traffic load information is estimated by identifying the dynamic state equations of the communication system. Then, the traffic load estimator is synthesized using the system identification in it. Finally, it is clarified by computation simulations that the proposed method is very applicable in estimating the traffic load of each communication node.

Connectionless service for LANs interconnection will be provided in ATM networks at an early stage of B-ISDN era. This service will be provided on connection oriented mode at ATM technology. To perform this service, ATM connections using the dedicated bandwidth for this service are established semi-permanently between the nodes accommodating LANs. On these ATM connections, connectionless service among LANs is provided. It is important for private networks to utilize this bandwidth efficiently for reducing communication cost. In this paper, the architecture to provide connectionless service in private networks is described. Next, the allocation schemes of the bandwidth for this service and their performance are considered. We discuss the following schemes and compare them. One scheme is to establish semi-permanent ATM connections between the nodes with LAN interfaces. The bandwidth for each connection is individually assigned between these nodes. In another scheme, CLSFs (Connection-Less Service Functions) are introduced for connectionless service and connections are established via CLSFs. We show the latter scheme is superior because it brings out the effectiveness of statistical multiplexing of ATM technology and it leads to the reduction of the allocated bandwidth.

In order to construct a high-capacity and high-reliable indoor wireless communications system, it is essential to design the modulation/demodulation, coding and access schemes with high and variable data rate transmission capabilities, which meet the technical requirements inherent to wireless communications, i.e., high frequency utilization efficiency and robustness for fading. In this paper, we propose the frequency and time division multiple access with demand-assignment (FTDMA/DA) using multicarrier modulation as a frequency and time synchronous answer to meet the requirements, and analyze the performance of the FTDMA/DA system, taking account of teletraffic characteristics of multimedia information sources.

The use of computers with private networks has accelerated the electronic storage of business information in office systems. With the rapid progress in processing capability and small sizing of the computer world, private networks are going to be more intelligent. The utilization of shared information is a key issue in modern organizations, in order to increase the productivity of white-collar workers. In the CSCW research field, it is said that informal and unstructured information is important in group work contexts but difficult to locate in a large organization. Many researchers are paying particular attention to the importance of support systems for such information. These kinds of information are called Organizational memory or Group Memory. Our research focuses on knowledge propagation with private networks in the organization. This means emphasis on the process; with which organized information or the ability to use information is circulated throughout the organization. Knowledge propagation has three issues: knowledge transmission, destination locating and source locating. To cope with these issues we developed FISH, which stands for Flexible Information Sharing and Handling system. FISH was designed to provide cooperative information sharing in a group work context and to explore knowledge propagation. FISH stores fragmental information as cards with multiple keywords and content. This paper discusses a three-layered model that describes computer supported knowledge transmission. Based on this model, three issues are discussed regarding knowledge propagation. FISH and its two-year experiment are described and knowledge propagation is explored based on the results of this experiment.