I think the idea is to have one network which can serve as the platform for all services. Saves on operator training. Helps when others are developing new services - only one kind of network underneath.
Whose idea? Certainly not the network builders in the real world. The idea of a ubiquitous ATM cloud is dead. ATM will play a role, a key one, but only one of many.
Yes, but the key is how they do it. Statistical multiplex is fairly dumb compared to ATM.
Well, lets not get into a statistical mux'ing argument. Even an ATM switch "fabric" is statiscal in nature. If all traffic in an ATM switch comes in, destined for the same output port, for too long a period of time, cells are dropped. On line cards, if internal buffers are overrun, cells are dropped.
BTW, the Cerent box is mainly a DCC and and Add/Drop mux "in one", with some switching capability, too. The box concentrates many traffic on to a Sonet/SDH ring. This box is largely complementary to pure ATM and IP switches. The Cerent box would be one step closer to the real network core, which is the fiber itself. That core will carry all native traffic types(IP, ATM, voice, FR, video, etc) within a Sonet transport layer.
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