An atm switching architecture with intrinsic multicast capabilities for the belgian broadband experiment

This paper describes the architecture of the transport net work in the local exchange (LEX) and the Subscriber group equipment (SGE) to be implemented for the Belgian broadband experiment. The functional and physical architecture of the LEX and the SGE will be described in this paper. Resulting from the requirement of maximum integration of communicative and distribution services, a connection-oriented switching fabric permitting tree structured multipoint connections has been defined; connection establishment protocols as well as maintenance facilities are described. Although developed within the frame of an experiment, the defined architecture and subsystems may well form the basis of a larger scale B-ISDN field trial.