This paper covers access network performance analysis by deploying asynchro
nous transfer mode (ATM) over ADSL within the Telecom Italia experimental d
epartment "EXANET" (experimental ATM network). In this scenario, data traff
ic leaves customer site as ATM traffic running over ADSL modem links, it is
aggregated via digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) at the c
entral office (CO) and then dropped onto the high-speed ATM switching fabri
c. The Italian telephone company was eager to use ADSL as a way to relieve
congestion on their circuit-switched voice telephony system, increasingly b
ogged down by the growth of the Internet and by long data transmissions. (C
) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.