PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF THE INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN ATM SWITCHES Virgil Dobrota 1 , Kalman Pusztai 2 Daniel Zinca 1 , Emil Cebuc 2 1 Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Department of Communications, 26 Baritiu Street, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania, phone/fax: +40-64-191689, e-mail: {Virgil.Dobrota, Daniel.Zinca}@com.utcluj.ro 2 Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Department of Computer Science, 26 Baritiu Street, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania, phone/fax: +40-64-194835, e-mail: {Kalman.Pusztai, Emil.Cebuc@cs.utcluj.ro Abstract - This paper presents the results of practical work carried out to integrate ATM switches within the CAMAN (Cluj-Napoca Academic Metropolitan Area Network), the first ATM network in Romania. The equipment involved for two of four nodes were based on CoreBuilder 9000 (3Com) and VIRATAswitch 1000 (ATML), integrated into the 155 Mbps optical fiber ring with other two APEX (General DataComm) - based switching systems. The first part is focused on system's design and configuration, followed by a description of the experimental results in the second part, including protocols like Classical IP over ATM and LAN Emulation services (ATM Forum or proprietary solutions). I. Cluj-Napoca Academic Metropolitan Area Network (CAMAN) A. Introduction In 1996 the Consortium of the Universities from Cluj-Napoca agreed to implement an ATM-based metropolitan area network in order to interconnect all their 39 sites. The funding for the infrastructure was supplied by the Ministry of Education, whilst the project was done by the Cluj Branch of RomTelecom S.A one year later. In 1998 the constructor was selected on a bidding basis, so Teleconstructia S.A. finished to install the 28 km. single-mode optical fiber infrastructure by the end of December 1998. The supplier for the passive components was M.T.IL Technologies and Systems. The paper is focused on practical work carried out to integrate two of the four ATM switches within this 155 Mbps high performance MAN. B. The CAMAN architecture Figure 1 presents the CAMAN architecture, including four main nodes, depicted as follows: node A (RoEduNet Administration Office, placed in Baritiu Street, providing the