Those basics are provided in this chapter, specifically this section. ATM is a broadband protocol and can use switched or nonswitched technology. A particular advantage of ATM is that it can integrate data, voice, and video within the same application without concern for compatibility for the impact on communications in LANs or WANs. ATM is particularly suited to this task because it treats data as small-size packets and relatively simple protocols with low overhead. These two characteristics are the basic requirements for a fast switching technology.
Data is moved serially through fiber cable.
Because photons are used to represent data, the length that a cable can run is longer than traditional copper-stranded cable. For example, distances of 23 to 43 km are supported for some devices. However, both are supported, and it appears that IBM will support both for some time to come. It is typically implemented in bus topology, and may use twisted-pair or coaxial cabling. It is an example of a de facto standard.