Broadband Packet Switching Technologies: A Practical Guide to ATM Switches and IP Routers

PREFACE

This packet switching book mainly targets high-speed packet networking. As Internet traffic grows exponentially, there is a great need to build multi- terabit Internet protocol (IP) routers, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switches, multiprotocol label switch (MPLS) switches, and optical switches.

Packet switching technologies have been investigated and researched intensively for almost two decades, but there are very few appropriate textbooks describing it. Many engineers and students have to search for technical papers and read them in an ad hoc manner. This book is the first that explains packet switching concepts and implementation technologies in broad scope and great depth.

This book addresses the basics, theory, architectures, and technologies to implement ATM switches, IP routers, and optical switches. The book is based on the material that Jonathan has been teaching to the industry and universities for the past decade. He taught a graduate course “Broadband Packet Switching Systems” at Polytechnic University, New York, and used the draft of the book as the text. The book has incorporated feedback from both industry people and college students.

The fundamental concepts and technologies of packet switching described in the book are useful and practical when designing IP routers, packet switches, and optical switches. The basic concepts can also stand by themselves ...