Practical implementation and packaging technologies for a large-scale ATM switching system

The practical implementation of a trial large-scale asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switching system and its packaging technologies are described. The architecture of the ATM switching system is discussed with an emphasis on system scalability. A building block architecture in which switching capacity can be expanded in a modular fashion is introduced. The design of the ATM switching system, including the ATM switch element, is described. The implementation of the VLSIs for the ATM switch which realize a highly modular system is explained. Bit-slice techniques are effectively used to realize a high-speed switch element as a CMOS VLSI chipset. An edge-to-edge orthogonal packaging technique is also presented.< >