How does ATM work in WAN?

Answer 1

This is a very large question. ATM is an extremely complex protocol. In general, however, it differs from other technologies in a few ways:

- It chops frames into 53-byte cells. It does this in order to more easily guarantee transmission according to desired Quality of Service parameters.

- It creates private virtual networks over service provider WANs. It has been largely supplanted by MPLS, however.

- It can create Virtual Paths and Virtual Circuits on-demand. It's still the only data networking technology that will do this, however MPLS does emulate this functionality by allowing more granular QoS control, due to newer and more advanced hardware/software.

Answer 2

It uses fixed-sized cells to carry data