MOUNTAIN VIEW (August 25, 1998) -- The ATM Forum, an association whose charter is to speed the development and deployment of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) products and services, announced today that it has accelerated its work with The ADSL Forum, through an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) workshop that included representatives of the T1E1 standards body and the Universal ADSL Working Group, at the ATM Forum's recent meeting in Portland Oregon (July 27-31). With each organization bringing its own ATM/ADSL integration work to the table, the participants began laying the groundwork to coordinate their efforts and define a common set of objectives. Additionally, The ATM Forum also announced, it is moving forward with two specifications focusing on ATM addressing, and it has sent three new specifications that address Residential Broadband (RBB), Private Network-to-Network Interface (PNNI) and device management in the carrier space to final ballot.

ATM is well established as the transport technology best suited for integrating voice, video and data across local and wide area networks. ADSL is positioned to deliver multi-megabit services over existing telephone lines into the home. Recognizing the mutual benefits of integrating ATM and ADSL, representatives of the different groups met in Portland to discuss the issues that need to be addressed to make the benefits of ATM and ADSL integration a reality. Separately, The ATM Forum, recognizing the need to formalize the ATM addressing process so that end-users and technical staff can more easily implement ATM services, has completed the baseline work on User and Reference Guides that explain why and when ATM addresses are needed and how to acquire, implement and administer them.

Greg Ratta, chairman for The ATM Forum's Technical Committee said, "Building on the success of ATM as a stable and mature technology, The ATM Forum also has the responsibility of easing the introduction of ATM into environments where users need to integrate real time applications such as voice and video with their existing data networks. The groundwork on ATM and ADSL integration discussed at the Portland meeting -- in addition to the addressing work in progress and the completed work -- are making it possible to integrate ATM across a wide variety of platforms, including the expansion of its use into the home."

Laying the ATM/ADSL Integration Groundwork
The purpose of the ADSL workshop held at The ATM Forum meeting in Portland was to identify common ground among the four groups represented and to identify the issues that need to be addressed in order to integrate ATM as a transport technology for ADSL. Enhancements to signaling, traffic management, and network management specifications may be necessary to accommodate the special characteristics of an ADSL physical layer. While some open issues were closed in Portland, the remaining issues will be addressed at future meetings.

Marlis Humphrey, chairman of the board of The ATM Forum observed, "Existing mechanisms enable deployment of ATM over ADSL access networks for high speed Internet access today. The groundwork laid at the Portland meeting will enable deployment of more efficient large scale multimedia and multiservice ATM over ADSL networks as well as deployment of ATM over 'lite' or 'splitterless' ADSL networks. We are accelerating the timeline that will enable users in the home or office to benefit from ATM services."

About the Specifications
The User Guide and Technical Guide documents for the ATM addressing work in progress are now out for straw vote. This means the baseline work is complete and the documents are ready for review by the membership. Objections and requests for clarifications received during the straw vote ballot process will be resolved at the next meeting of the Technical Committee. At the conclusion of the straw vote process, the documents will then be approved as specifications through a final ballot. The three documents currently out for final ballot address the physical interface for ATM into the home, signaling applied between nodes of ATM networks that employ static hop-by-hop routing, and management information for network elements in the carrier space. For a complete listing of all ratified ATM Forum specifications please visit The ATM Forum on the Internet at http://www.atmforum.com/atmforum/specs/approved.html.

About The ATM Forum
Formed in 1991, The ATM Forum's membership currently includes more than 660 companies representing all sectors of the computer and communications industries, as well as government agencies, research organizations and end users. The Forum's charter is to speed the development and deployment of ATM products and services. Activities include development and recommendation of interoperability specifications and the promotion of industry cooperation and awareness.