Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and fast packet switching
offer the ability to support many diverse forms of telecommunications
services across a single integrated network.
Some applications require the communications traffic from a single source
to be received concurrently by many destinations.
One approach to satisfy this requirement is to use a copy fabric to
replicate the necessary number of copies of the incident traffic and then
to route each copy to the required destination in a conventional
point-to-point ATM fast packet switch.
This paper presents the design and performance of a copy fabric based upon
a slotted ring that permits a very simple implementation.
It offers a performance which for many applications is comparable to that of
much more complex designs.