Jim, Mike,
I think your confusion may be justified on the basis that there is scant little substantive detail either in the press release or at MOT's web site to explain what is actually going on. To some degree it is left to the imagination. Maybe that's why it is so sexy. -g-
"So is it some kind of gateway/router that analyzes traffic and modifies/routes it accordingly?"
A fair assumption, I'd say. What comes to mind here is the IP traffic bypass assemblies that many ILECs use in their end offices to shunt dial-up Internet traffic that is intended for the Web off of traditional PSTN routes, thus freeing up links and switching real estate in the network's switching systems, and in the transport areas. The Edge.
In other words, by sensing the dial upt traffic, and then reading the traffic type, these "bypasses" route Web-destined data over direct pipes to the upstream ISP in a more efficient manner than they otherwise would, if they routed the traffic over their metro rings which were designed for voice services.
In so doing, they also conserve on switch real estate and cpu cycles, in their outbound port fields and common logic, respectively.
Now, the foregoing was not to suggest that this is exactly what is happening in the case at hand. Only that it resembles it.
Do you suppose that it is safe to assume that this model will support IP between the end user and the switch kludge, and it will be switched beyond that point on the PSTN? Or, do you think it will be IP, through and through? I think the former, except in those instances when the ILEC or MSO has a prexisting relationship with an Interexchange entity that does VoIP. In the latter case, then, I'm quite certain that some form of switch IP bypass would be used here, as opposed to the use of a traditional VoIP gateway. Most likely, however, the switch would retain the ability to use either mode, because of the diverse types of PSTN situations an operator is forced to handle. Neither switched nor IP (IP, even well into the future) will satisfy all of them.
If you examine what's actually happening within the environments that are normally referred to as the "end office" Class 5 switching entities, you'll come to realize that they do far more than simply switch (or route) voice links.
Class 5 locations also possess an elaborate backoffice tie-in to several database architectures that contain numerous attributes about subscribers, their telephone numbers, addresses, features subscribed, access line specifics, billing and trouble histories, to name just a few.
Furthermore, they are intricately woven into the fabric of the switching hierarchy under rules that are consistent with the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) and SS7 call routing network.
This is significant because they possess a formal table standing in the larger switching paradigm, of which SS7 [which is only becoming more significant instead of less, as some thought not too long ago] is a major part. That is, they provide a recognizable address to incoming calls (homing), while also providing a recognizable address for outgoing calls (calling line Identification, or CLID), as well. And today's end office switches are already provisioned with field tested feature software that users are now accustomed to using. These turn out to be accessible and usable by IP clients as well, through software-based translations.
In the absence of such attributes, the cable operator would have to register a non-Class 5 entity, strictly for IP purposes, and start from scratch. Furthermore, the manner in which Cable Ops (not just the top five or so, but all independents, as well) secure and implement Class 5 switching is not always straightforward. Often times an operator will "lease partitions" on other peoples' switches. Or, they will aggregate the voice traffic from several head end clusters (which are already aggregating smaller nodes in the field) upstream, into a single switch entity that they own, for economic reasons.
Like yourselves, I'm guessing to a great degree here. I'd like to see some more detail on this development when it becomes available. Anyone knowing where such information currently resides, please post. tnx
FAC |
