Cisco Active Network Abstraction Reference Guide, 3.7
Asynchronous Transfer Mode

Table Of Contents

Asynchronous Transfer Mode

Technology Description

ATM

IMA

IP over ATM, Ethernet over ATM (MPoA)

Information Model Objects (IMOs)

ATM Interface

ATM Virtual Connection

Inverse Multiplexing for ATM (IMA) Group

ATM Traffic Descriptor

ATM Traffic Shape Descriptor

Vendor-Specific Inventory and IMOs

Lucent ATM Trunk Interface

Cisco or Lucent ATM Logical Interface

Cisco or Lucent ATM Trunk Virtual Connection

Cisco or Lucent ATM Soft Permanent Virtual Connection

Alcatel ASAM ATM Interface

ECI HiFocus ATM Interface

Alcatel ASAM ATM Traffic Descriptor

ECI HiFocus ATM Traffic Descriptor

Lucent WAN Switch ATM Traffic Descriptor

Alcatel ATM Access Traffic Descriptor

Alcatel ASAM Access Traffic Descriptor

Network Topology

Service Alarms


Asynchronous Transfer Mode


This chapter describes the level of support that Cisco ANA provides for ATM, as follows:

Technology Description

Information Model Objects (IMOs)

Vendor-Specific Inventory and IMOs

Network Topology

Service Alarms

Technology Description

ATM

ATM is a cell-switching and multiplexing technology that combines the benefits of circuit switching (guaranteed capacity and constant transmission delay) with those of packet switching (flexibility and efficiency for intermittent traffic). It provides data link (Layer 2) services with scalable bandwidth from a few megabits per second (Mb/s) to many gigabits per second (Gb/s), which usually run over SONET/SDH physical (Layer 1) links.

ATM networks consist of ATM switches interconnected by point-to-point ATM links or interfaces and are fundamentally connection oriented, which means that a virtual channel (VC) must be set up across the ATM network prior to any data transfer.

IMA

Inverse Multiplexing over ATM (IMA) involves inverse multiplexing and demultiplexing of ATM cells in a cyclical fashion among physical links grouped to form a higher bandwidth and logical link. The rate of the logical link is approximately the sum of the rate of the physical links in the IMA group. Streams of cells are distributed in a round-robin manner across the multiple T1/E1 links and reassembled at the destination to form the original cell stream. Sequencing is provided using IMA Control Protocol (ICP) cells.

The ATM cell stream received from the ATM layer is distributed on a cell-by-cell basis across the multiple links within the IMA group. At the far end, the receiving IMA unit reassembles the cells from each link on a cell-by-cell basis, recreates the original ATM cell stream, and passes it to the ATM layer.

IP over ATM, Ethernet over ATM (MPoA)

IP over ATM (MPoA 1483R) and Ethernet over ATM (MPoA 1483B) are both implementations of Multi protocol over ATM (MPoA), an ATM Forum standard that provides for routing of legacy protocols (such as IP and Ethernet) over ATM networks.

Based on ATM UNI signaling, and integrating LANE and Next Hop Resolution Protocol (NHRP), MPoA preserves the benefits of LANE while allowing intersubnet, internetwork layer protocol communication over virtual channel connections (VCCs). Unlike LANE, it requires no routers in the data path. MPoA provides a framework for effectively synthesizing bridging and routing with ATM in an environment of diverse protocols, network technologies, and IEEE 802.1 VLANs. MPoA can use routing and bridging information to locate optimal exits from the ATM cloud and allows the physical separation of internetwork layer route calculation and forwarding (virtual routing).

MPoA defines two components—MPoA Clients (MPCs) and MPoA Servers (MPSs)—and the protocols that are required to communicate and receive services. An MPS is a router component, and requires a Next Hop Server (NHS) and interfaces to one or more LAN Emulation Clients (LECs). This MPS route server performs the routing calculations and sends its results to the ATM switches and edge devices, which perform high-speed forwarding of IP datagrams and Ethernet packets.

Information Model Objects (IMOs)

This section describes the following IMOs:

ATM Interface (IAtm)

ATM Virtual Connection (IAtmVc)

Inverse Multiplexing for ATM (IMA) Group (IIMAGroup)

ATM Traffic Descriptor (IAtmTrafficDescriptor)

ATM Traffic Shape Descriptor (IAtmTrafficShapingDescriptor)

ATM Interface

The data link layer ATM Interface object aggregates multiple ATM Virtual Connections by its VC Table attributes. It is bound by its Containing Termination Points attribute to a physical layer interface. It is accessed primarily by the Virtual Connection Switching Entity and VC Encapsulation Multiplexer bound by its Contained Connection Termination Points attribute. It is also accessed by the Virtual Connection Switching Entity.

Table 18-1 ATM Interface (IAtm)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

ATM Address

ATM 20-byte address (Address Prefix | MAC Address | Address Selector)

Any

Configuration

Interface Type

ATM interface type (N/A, UNI, Private UNI, Public UNI, NNI, Private NNI, Public NNI, STI, Unconfigured, VNNI, VUNI, EVNNI, EVUNI, VP TRUNK UNI)

Any

Configuration

VP and VC Ranges

Numeric ranges of the allowed Virtual Path Identifier/Virtual Channel Identifier (VPI/VCI) values

Any

Configuration

VC Table

Array of ATM Virtual Connections

Any

Configuration

Cross Connect Table

Array of Virtual Cross Connections

Any

Configuration

IANA Type

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) type of the sublayer

N/A

N/A

Containing Termination Points

Underlying termination points (connection or physical)

Any

N/A

Contained Connection Termination Points

Bound connection termination points

Any

N/A

Tx Allocated Bandwidth

ATM allocated transmit bandwidth

Product

Configuration

Tx Maximum Bandwidth

ATM maximum transmit bandwidth

Product

Configuration

Tx UBR Allocated Bandwidth

ATM allocated transmit bandwidth at unspecified bit rate

Product

Configuration

Tx CBR Allocated Bandwidth

ATM allocated transmit bandwidth at constant bit rate

Product

Configuration

Rx Allocated Bandwidth

ATM allocated receive bandwidth

Product

Configuration

Rx Maximum Bandwidth

ATM maximum transmit bandwidth

Product

Configuration

Rx UBR Allocated Bandwidth

ATM allocated transmit bandwidth at unspecified bit rate

Product

Configuration

Rx CBR Allocated Bandwidth

ATM allocated transmit bandwidth at constant bit rate

Product

Configuration


ATM Virtual Connection

The data link layer ATM Virtual Connection object is bound by its Containing Termination Points attribute to a data link layer ATM Interface object. It is accessed primarily by the Virtual Cross Connection and data link layer VC Encapsulation, but is not bound to any of them by any of its attributes.

Table 18-2 ATM Virtual Connection (IAtmVc)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Virtual Channel Identifier

Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI)

Any

Configuration

Virtual Path Identifier

Virtual Path Identifier (VPI)

Any

Configuration

Shaping Profile

Shaping profile (ATM Traffic Shape Descriptor)

Any

Configuration

Discarded and Received Input Data Counters

Discarded and received input octets and reassembled packet counters

Any

Topology L2

Dropped and Forward Output Data Counters

Dropped and forwarded output octets and reassembled packet counters

Any

Topology L2

Ingress Traffic Descriptor

Ingress traffic descriptor (ATM Traffic Descriptor)

Any

Configuration

Egress Traffic Descriptor

Egress traffic descriptor (ATM Traffic Descriptor)

Any

Configuration

Administrative Status

Administrative status (Unknown, Up, Down)

Any

Status

Operational Status

Operational status (Unknown, Up, Down)

Any

Status

IANA Type

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) type of the sublayer

N/A

N/A

Containing Termination Points

Underlying termination points (connection or physical)

Any

N/A

Contained Connection Termination Points

Bound connection termination points

Any

N/A


Inverse Multiplexing for ATM (IMA) Group

The Inverse Multiplexing for ATM (IMA) Group object is bound to its multiple DS1 Physicals by its Containing Termination Points attribute. It is accessed by a single data link layer ATM Interface.

Table 18-3 Inverse Multiplexing for ATM (IMA) Group (IIMAGroup)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Administrative Status

Administrative status of the IMA Group interface (Unknown, Up, Down, Testing).

Any

Status

Operational Status

Operational status of the IMA Group interface (Unknown, Up, Down, Testing, Dormant, Not Present).

Any

Status

Group Number

The IMA Group number.

Any

Configuration

IMA Version

The configured IMA version (1.0, 1.1).

Any

Configuration

Speed

The active bandwidth of the IMA Group.

Any

Configuration

Configured Bandwidth

The total bandwidth of the IMA Group (the sum of all individual links in the Group).

Any

Configuration

Number of Links

The number of DS1 links in the IMA Group.

Any

Configuration

Number of Active Links

The number of DS1 links active in the IMA Group.

Any

Configuration

Minimum Number of Transmit Links

The minimum number of transmit links needed for the IMA Group to be operational.

Any

Configuration

Minimum Number of Receive Links

The minimum number of receive links needed for the IMA Group to be operational.

Any

Configuration

Clock Mode

The IMA Group's clock mode (CTC, ITC).

Any

Configuration

Frame Length

The length of IMA frames.

Any

Configuration

Group Failure Status

Reason for the IMA Group failure (noFailure, startup, invalidMValueNe, invalidMValueFe, failedAssymetricNe, failedAssymetricFe, insufficientLinksFe, insufficientLinksMe, blockedNe, blockedFe, invalidImaVersionNe, invalidImaVersionFe, otherFailure).

Any

Configuration

Operational Status Last Change

Date of last operational status change.

Any

Configuration

Description

The IMA Group interface name (for example, ATM8/0/IMA1).

Any

Configuration

IANA Type

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) type of the sublayer.

N/A

N/A

Containing Termination Points

Underlying termination points (DS1 Physicals).

Any

N/A


ATM Traffic Descriptor

The ATM Traffic Descriptor object describes the traffic of a single ATM Virtual Connection. It is aggregated by a Traffic Descriptor Container object (see Common Components).

Table 18-4 ATM Traffic Descriptor (IAtmTrafficDescriptor)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Traffic Descriptor Type

ATM traffic descriptor type (Null, Best Effort, No CLP and no SCR, CLP with no tagging and no SCR, CLP with tagging and no SCR, No CLP with SCR, CLP with no tagging and with SCR, CLP with tagging and with SCR, CLP with no tagging and with MCR, CLP-transparent with no SCR, CLP-transparent with SCR, No CLP with tagging and no SCR, No CLP and no SCR with CDVT, No CLP with SCR and CDVT, No CLP and no SCR with CDVT, No CLP with SCR and CDVT)

Any

Configuration

Service Category

ATM service category (Unknown, UBR, UBR1, UBR2, CBR, CBR1, CBR2, CBR3, ABR, VBR, RT VBR, NRT VBR, VBR1RT, VBR2RT, VBR3RT, VBR1NRT, VBR2NRT, VBR3NRT, GFR)

Any

Configuration

Cell Loss Priority

Cell loss priority (Unknown, True, False)

Any

Configuration

Cell Delay Variation

Cell delay variation

Any

Configuration

Cell Delay Variation Tolerance

Cell delay variation tolerance

Any

Configuration

Maximum High Priority and Aggregate Burst Sizes

Maximum high priority and aggregate (CLP=0 and CLP=0+1) burst sizes

Any

Configuration

Minimum High Priority and Aggregate Cell Rates

Minimum high priority and aggregate (CLP=0 and CLP=0+1) cell rates

Any

Configuration

Sustainable High Priority and Aggregate Cell Rates

Sustainable high priority and aggregate (CLP=0 and CLP=0+1) cell rates

Any

Configuration

Peak High Priority and Aggregate Cell Rates

Peak high priority and aggregate (CLP=0 and CLP=0+1) cell rates

Any

Configuration

Name

Traffic descriptor name

Any

Configuration

Index

Traffic descriptor index

Any

Configuration


ATM Traffic Shape Descriptor

The ATM Traffic Shape Descriptor object describes the traffic shape of a single ATM Virtual Connection. It is aggregated by a Traffic Descriptor Container object (see Common Components).

Table 18-5 ATM Traffic Shape Descriptor (IAtmTrafficShapingDescriptor)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Maximum Burst Size

Maximum burst sizes

Any

Configuration

Sustainable and Peak Cell Rates

Sustainable and peak cell rates

Any

Configuration

Cell Delay Variation

Cell delay variation

Any

Configuration

State

Descriptor state (Null, Enabled, Disabled)

Any

Configuration

Buffer Size

Buffer size

Any

Configuration

Cell Loss Priority Discarded Size

Cell loss priority discarded size

Any

Configuration

Name

Traffic descriptor name

Any

Configuration

Index

Traffic descriptor index

Any

Configuration


Vendor-Specific Inventory and IMOs

Vendor-specific IMOs are implemented only for specific vendor devices. The following sections describe vendor-specific objects for this technology:

Lucent ATM Trunk Interface

Cisco or Lucent ATM Logical Interface

Cisco or Lucent ATM Trunk Virtual Connection

Cisco or Lucent ATM Soft Permanent Virtual Connection

Alcatel ASAM ATM Interface

ECI HiFocus ATM Interface

Alcatel ASAM ATM Traffic Descriptor

ECI HiFocus ATM Traffic Descriptor

Lucent WAN Switch ATM Traffic Descriptor

Alcatel ATM Access Traffic Descriptor

Alcatel ASAM Access Traffic Descriptor

Lucent ATM Trunk Interface

The Lucent ATM Trunk Interface data link layer object aggregates multiple ATM Virtual Connections, to which it is bound by its VC Table attributes. It is bound by its Containing Termination Points attribute to a physical layer interface. It is accessed primarily by a Virtual Connection Switching Entity bound by its Contained Connection Termination Points attribute.

Table 18-6 Lucent ATM Trunk Interface (IAtmTrunk)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

All attributes are the same as ATM Interface (IAtm)


Cisco or Lucent ATM Logical Interface

The Cisco or Lucent ATM Logical Interface data link layer object aggregates multiple ATM Virtual Connections, to which it is bound by its VC Table attributes. It is bound by its Containing Termination Points attribute to a physical layer interface. It is accessed primarily by a Virtual Connection Switching Entity and data link layer VC Encapsulation bound by its Contained Connection Termination Points attribute.

Table 18-7 Cisco or Lucent ATM Logical Interface (IAtmLogicalPort/Trunk)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Resource Management Cell Termination

Resource management cell termination (Unknown, CCRM Only, CCRM, BCM)

Any

Configuration

Resource Management Cell Generation

Resource management cell generation (Unknown, None, CCRM, BCM)

Any

Configuration

Effective Check

Effective check (Unknown, No, Yes)

Any

Configuration

Input and Output Capacities

Input and output capacities

Any

Configuration

Administrative Status

Administrative status (Null, Up, Down, Testing)

Any

Status

Operational Status

Operational status (Null, Up, Down, Testing, Unknown, Dormant, Not Present)

Any

Status

All additional attributes are the same as ATM Interface (IAtm)


Cisco or Lucent ATM Trunk Virtual Connection

The Cisco or Lucent ATM Trunk Virtual Connection and Cisco or Lucent ATM Soft Permanent Virtual Connection data link layer objects are bound by their Containing Termination Points attributes to an ATM Interface object. They are accessed primarily by a Virtual Cross Connection object, although they are not bound to it by any of their attributes.

Table 18-8 Cisco or Lucent ATM Trunk Virtual Connection (IAtmTrunkVc)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Destination Description

Destination party description

Any

Configuration

All additional attributes are the same as ATM Virtual Connection (IAtmVc)


Cisco or Lucent ATM Soft Permanent Virtual Connection

Table 18-9 Cisco or Lucent ATM Soft Permanent Virtual Connection (IAtmSpVc)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Remote Virtual Channel Identifier

Remote Virtual Channel Identifier (VCI)

Any

Configuration

Remote Virtual Path Identifier

Remote Virtual Path Identifier (VPI)

Any

Configuration

Remote Network Service Access Point

Remote Network Service Access Point (NSAP), which is the destination ATM address

Any

Configuration

All additional attributes are the same as ATM Virtual Connection (IAtmVc)


Alcatel ASAM ATM Interface

The Alcatel ASAM ATM Interface and ECI HiFocus ATM Interface data link layer objects aggregate multiple ATM Virtual Connections, which they are bound to by their VC Table attributes. They are bound by their Containing Termination Points attributes to a physical layer interface. They are accessed primarily by Virtual Connection Switching Entity and data link layer VC Encapsulation objects bound by their Contained Connection Termination Points attributes.

Table 18-10 Alcatel ASAM ATM Interface (IAsamAtm)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

CAC Traffic Descriptor

Connection admission control (CAC) traffic descriptor (Alcatel ASAM ATM Traffic Descriptor)

Product

Configuration

Access Traffic Descriptor

Access traffic descriptor (Alcatel ASAM Access Traffic Descriptor)

Product

Configuration

All additional attributes are the same as ATM Interface (IAtm)


ECI HiFocus ATM Interface

Table 18-11 ECI HiFocus ATM Interface (IHiFocusAtm)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

CAC Traffic Descriptor

Connection admission control (CAC) traffic descriptor (ECI HiFocus ATM Traffic Descriptor)

Product

Configuration

Access Traffic Descriptor

Access traffic descriptor (Alcatel ATM Access Traffic Descriptor)

Product

Configuration

All additional attributes are the same as ATM Interface (IAtm)


Alcatel ASAM ATM Traffic Descriptor

The following objects — Alcatel ASAM ATM Traffic Descriptor, ECI HiFocus ATM Traffic Descriptor, Lucent WAN Switch ATM Traffic Descriptor and Lucent WAN Switch ATM Traffic Descriptor — describe traffic of a single ATM Virtual Connection. They are aggregated by a Traffic Descriptor Container object.

Table 18-12 Alcatel ASAM ATM Traffic Descriptor (IAsamAtmTrafficDescriptor)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

User VP and VC Ranges

Numeric ranges of the allowed user VPI/VCI values

Product

Configuration

All additional attributes are the same as ATM Traffic Descriptor (IAtmTrafficDescriptor)


ECI HiFocus ATM Traffic Descriptor

Table 18-13 ECI HiFocus ATM Interface (IHiFocusAtm)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Service Category

ATM service category (Unspecified)

Product

Configuration

All additional attributes are the same as ATM Traffic Descriptor (IAtmTrafficDescriptor)


Lucent WAN Switch ATM Traffic Descriptor

Table 18-14 Lucent's WAN Switch ATM Traffic Descriptor (ILucentWANSwitchAtmTrafficDescriptor)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Priority

Connection priority

Product

Configuration

Type

Connection type

Product

Configuration

All additional attributes are the same as ATM Traffic Descriptor (IAtmTrafficDescriptor)


Alcatel ATM Access Traffic Descriptor

The Alcatel ATM Access Traffic Descriptor object describes access traffic of a single ATM Virtual Connection. It is aggregated by a Traffic Descriptor Container.

Table 18-15 Alcatel ATM Access Traffic Descriptor (IAtmAccessTrafficDescriptor) 

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Scope

Access scope (Null, Local, Network)

Product

Configuration

Maximum Active VPCs and VCCs

Maximum active virtual path and virtual channel connections

Product

Configuration

Maximum Supported VPI and VCI Bits

Maximum supported virtual path and virtual channel bits

Product

Configuration

Generic Flow Control Mode

Generic flow control mode (Null, UNI, NNI)

Product

Configuration

Police Mode

Police mode (Null, None, VC Only, All)

Product

Configuration

Name

Traffic descriptor name

Product

Configuration

Index

Traffic descriptor index

Product

Configuration


Alcatel ASAM Access Traffic Descriptor

Alcatel ASAM Access Traffic Descriptor object describes access traffic of a single ATM Virtual Connection. It is aggregated by a Traffic Descriptor Container.

Table 18-16 Alcatel ASAM Access Traffic Descriptor (IAsamAccessTrafficDescriptor)  

Attribute Name
Attribute Description
Scheme
Polling Interval

Maximum Supported VPCs and VCCs

Maximum supported virtual path and virtual channel connections

Product

Configuration

Maximum Active VPI and VCI Bits

Maximum active virtual path and virtual channel bits

Product

Configuration

All additional attributes are the same as Alcatel ATM Access Traffic Descriptor (IAtmAccessTrafficDescriptor)


Network Topology

Cisco ANA discovers ATM data link layer topology by searching for the same set of active ATM Virtual Connections in any remote side's ATM port VC table related to the same type of the local ATM port. This topology also applies to the underlying physical links.

In particular, Cisco ANA looks for harmony between the VC tables of participating ports based on the lowest active VC (registry default to 3). Further verification is done by matching the VC traffic signature of these ports using Cisco's confidential scheme, which requires a substantial amount of traffic to function correctly.

This mechanism supports configurations that have either the same VCs or the same VPs on both sides. It does not support a mixture of VCs on one side and VPs on the other side.

Service Alarms

The following alarms are supported for this technology:

Cloud Problem

Discard Input Packets/Normal Discard Input Packets

Dropped Output Packets/Normal Dropped Output Packets

Link Down/Link Up

Port Down/Port Up

Receive Utilization/Receive Utilization Normal

Transmit Utilization/Transmit Utilization Normal

IMA Admin Down

IMA Oper Down

High Priority IMA Down

Medium Priority IMA Down

Low Priority IMA Down

Note that these alarms, apart from Cloud Problem, are related to the underlying physical interface (see Common Components).

For detailed information about alarms and correlation, see the Cisco Active Network Abstraction 3.7 User Guide.