Selecting appropriate models of ATM traffic sources is an important is
sue, since it is closely related to the successful design and efficien
t performance of the ATM networks to be built in the future. For the t
hree basic categories of sources (voice, data and video), numerous sou
rce models have been proposed in the literature. In this paper, we sum
marize the main features of each of these categories, and present a su
rvey of related models. We argue that it is preferable to select a set
of standard source models rather than a single such model. We define
a set of criteria to be used in the selection, and choose appropriate
source models accordingly.