ATM Cell Structure
At either a private or a public user-network interface (UNI), an ATM cell alwas consists of a !-bte hea"er
followe" b a #$-bte paloa"% The hea"er is co&pose" of si' ele&ents, each "etaile" in (i)ure *#%+%
Figure 14.6 ATM Cell Header Structure
Generic Flow Control
The ,eneric (low Control (,(C) fiel" is a #-bit fiel" that was ori)inall a""e" to support the connection of
ATM networks to share" access networks such as a -istribute" .ueue -ual /us (-.-/) rin)% The ,(C
fiel" was "esi)ne" to )ive the User-Network Interface (UNI) # bits in which to ne)otiate &ultiple'in) an"
flow control a&on) the cells of various ATM connections% 0owever, the use an" e'act values of the ,(C
fiel" have not been stan"ar"i1e", an" the fiel" is alwas set to 2222%
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Virtual Path Identifier
The 3irtual 4ath I"entifier (34I) "efines the virtual path for this particular cell% 34Is for a particular virtual
channel connection are "iscovere" "urin) the connection setup process for switche" virtual circuit (S3C)
connections an" &anuall confi)ure" for per&anent virtual circuit (43C) connections% At the UNI, the 34I
len)th of $ bits allows up to 5!+ "ifferent virtual paths% 34I 2 e'ists b "efault on all ATM e6uip&ent an"
is use" for a"&inistrative purposes such as si)nalin) to create an" "elete "na&ic ATM connections%
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Virtual Channel Identifier
The 3irtual Channel I"entifier (3CI) "efines the virtual channel within the specifie" virtual path for this
particular cell% 7ust as with 34Is, 3CIs are also "iscovere" "urin) the connection setup process for
switche" virtual circuit (S3C) connections an" &anuall confi)ure" for per&anent virtual circuit (43C)
connections% The 3CI len)th of *+ bits allows up to +!,!8+ "ifferent virtual channels for each virtual path%
3CIs 2 to *! are reserve" b the ITU an" 3CIs fro&*+ to 85 are reserve" b the ATM (oru& (for each
virtual path)% These reserve" 3CIs are use" for si)nalin), operation an" &aintenance, an" resource
&ana)e&ent%
The co&bination of 34I an" 3CI values i"entifies the virtual circuit for a specifie" ATM cell% The 34I93CI
co&bination provi"es the ATM forwar"in) infor&ation that the ATM switch uses to forwar" the cell to its
"estination% The 34I93CI co&bination is not a network laer a""ress such as an I4 or I4: network a""ress%
The 34I93CI co&bination acts as a local i"entifier of a virtual circuit an" is si&ilar to the ;o)ical Channel
Nu&ber in :%5! an" the -ata ;ink Connection I"entifier (-;CI) in (ra&e <ela% At an particular ATM
en"point or switch, the 34I93CI uni6uel i"entifies a virtual circuit to the ne't ATM en"point or switch%
The 34I93CI pair nee" not &atch the 3CI934I use" b the final "estination ATM en"point%
The 34I93CI co&bination is uni6ue for each trans&ission path (that is, for each cable or connection to the
ATM switch)% 0owever, two "ifferent virtual circuits on two "ifferent ports on an ATM switch can have the
sa&e 34I93CI without conflict%
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Paload T!e Indicator
The 4aloa" Tpe In"icator (4TI) is a 8-bit fiel"% Its bits are use" as follows=
The first bit in"icates the tpe of ATM cell that follows% A first bit set to 2 in"icates user "ata> a bit set to *
in"icates operations, a"&inistration ? &ana)e&ent (@A?M) "ata%
The secon" bit in"icates whether the cell e'perience" con)estion in its Aourne fro& source to "estination%
This bit is also calle" the B'plicit (orwar" Con)estion In"ication (B(CI) bit% The secon" bit is set to 2 b
the source> if an interi& switch e'periences con)estion while routin) the cell, it sets the bit to *% After it is
set to *, all other switches in the path leave this bit value at *%
-estination ATM en"points can use the B(CI bit to i&ple&ent flow control &echanis&s to throttle back on
the trans&ission rate until cells with an B(CI bit set to 2 are receive"%
The thir" bit in"icates the last cell in a block for AA;! in user ATM cells% (or non-user ATM cells, the thir"
bit is use" for @A?M functions%
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Cell "o## Priorit
The Cell ;oss 4riorit (C;4) fiel" is a *-bit fiel" use" as a priorit in"icator% Chen it is set to 2, the cell is
hi)h priorit an" interi& switches &ust &ake ever effort to forwar" the cell successfull% Chen the C;4
bit is set to *, the interi& switches so&eti&es "iscar" the cell in con)estion situations% The C;4 bit is ver
si&ilar to the -iscar" Bli)ibilit (-B) bit in (ra&e <ela%
An ATM en"point sets the C;4 bit to * when a cell is create" to in"icate a lower priorit cell% The ATM
switch can set the C;4 to * if the cell e'cee"s the ne)otiate" para&eters of the virtual channel connection%
This is si&ilar to burstin) above the Co&&itte" Infor&ation <ate (CI<) in (ra&e <ela%
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Header $rror Chec%
The 0ea"er Brror Check (0BC) fiel" is an $-bit fiel" that allows an ATM switch or ATM en"point to
correct a sin)le-bit error or to "etect &ulti-bit errors in the first # btes of the ATM hea"er% Multi-bit
errore" cells are silentl "iscar"e"% The 0BC onl checks the ATM hea"er an" not the ATM paloa"%
Checkin) the paloa" for errors is the responsibilit of upper laer protocols%
