Cellular network applications are growing drastically and this requires a fast and efficient transport method between the base station and the mobile switching center. One possible solution is to use ATM links. The low data rate and small-sized packets in the typical cellular applications imply that a significant amount of link bandwidth would be wasted if this small sized packet is carried by one ATM cell. For efficient operation for such cellular and low bit rate applications, a new type of ATM adaptation layer, AAL type 2, has been proposed. In this paper the principles of AAL type 2 are briefly described along with an introduction to other alternatives which have formed the basis for this new AAL. The result from the simulation to study the performance of the AAL type 2 is discussed from the packet delay and ATM cell use efficiency point of view. Due to the variable sizes of packets in this application, the fairness issue in serving variable sized packets is also discussed along with the effect of a fair queueing algorithm implemented at AAL type 2.
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