Transport of gigabit/sec data packets over SONET/ATM networks

Abstract

A scheme is proposed to convert the data formats between the HIPPI (high performance parallel interface) and ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) protocols. A possible method of implementing the HIPPI broadband terminal adaptor (HIPPI-BTA), which interfaces multiple HIPPI channels to the SONET (synchronous optical network)/ATM network, is also presented. A preliminary study indicated that the HIPPI interface of the high performance computer hosts and the SONET/ATM standards of the future broadband communication networks have a high potential to work well with each other.<>