Virtual circuit multiplexing
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Multiplexing occurs when there's a need to transport multiple data streams over a single data link. VC-MUX is commonly used in PPPoE and PPPoA, which are often met in various xDSL implementations.
According to the IEEE 802 family of standards (Ethernet, WiFi, etc), in VC Multiplexing (VC-MUX), each ATM Virtual Circut (VC) carries PDUs of exactly one protocol type. When multiple protocols need to be transported, there is a separate VC for each.
Advantages:
- VC multiplexing tends to reduce fragmentation overhead (e.g., an IPV4 datagram containing a TCP control packet with neither IP nor TCP options exactly fits into a single cell).