Charleston, Giles C.Christofili, ThomasMakowski, Armand M.Narayan, PrakashRao, SandeepKim, JangkyungWe drew attention to the new IEEE P1355 Standard for Heterogeneous InterConnect as a possible platform to support several onboard processing functions, including onboard communications and onboard ATM switching. The main features of IEEE P1355 are illustrated through a discussion of the basic principles and protocol architecture of ALAX, the ATM LAN Access Switch, currently under design in the Laboratory for Advanced Switching Technologies at the University of Maryland, College Park.en-USCSP switchingIntelligent Signal ProcessingCommunications SystemsTechnical Report