[ Re Nortel / Westell System ]
Hi Pat,
As per your request, here is my initial understanding of the Nortel / Westell System Still more to read.
Hope this helps.
John
WESTELL EQUIPMENT
There is a Westell ADSL modem at the customer site.
There is a Westell Supervision Unit at the serving telco central office. This is a DSLAM unit with plug-in ADSL modem cards. The ADSL data streams are then connected to the Nortel Magellan ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) Switch. The Westell Supervision unit also has built-in functions to monitor and configure their own equipment.
MAGELLAN ATM SWITCH
The Magellan family includes:
Magellan Concorde, a 40-gigabit-per-second (Gbit/s) ATM backbone switch;
Magellan Passport, a 1.6-Gbit/s ATM switch for enterprise and carrier applications; and
Magellan Access Switch, an end node targeted for organizations such as banks, which have widely distributed small branches supporting a broad mix of traffic types.
The Nortel Magellan Switches and the associated high speed 'virtual circuit' links between them form the backbone data network which switches and carries the ADSL data to the correct ISP, office lan, videoserver, etc.
NORTEL SERVICE CONTROLLER
Nortel's Service Controller delivers an end-to-end service management system for asynchronous digital subscriber line (ADSL) access networks that will enable carriers to take full advantage of the Internet explosion and the demand for new high-speed services by enabling the carrier to serve as a "gateway" for broadband access to multiple networks and service providers.
Service Controller harnesses switched virtual circuits (SVCs) to offer subscribers with ethernet or asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) connections to high-speed access networks the ability to point-and-click their way to multiple service networks (such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs), corporate networks or other content providers) from a personalized Web page interface. Subscribers are also able to adjust the Quality of Service (QoS - which equals bandwidth and priority) based on their application/session needs, and to control their costs accordingly.
The product exploits ATM architectures to offer content providers an infrastructure which enables them to offer multimedia content -- through the carrier's network -- with the high quality and performance subscribers now expect. In addition, because subscribers are no longer locked into one service network destination, content providers will have access to a much wider subscriber base.
NORTEL / WESTELL SOLUTION
The Nortel - Westell alliance provides a turnkey solution that includes the core ATM backbone, signaling and service control, ADSL access, security technology, and systems integration.
Service providers can benefit from the Nortel - Westell solution by offering value-added services to their customers and securing substantial differentiation from their competitors.
I would imagine considerable software and hardware modifications are necessary in the Westell equipment to extend the Service Controller functions to the end-user.
PS - I took some of this verbatum from their press releases, papers, etc. so it is obviously biased. Anyone, please feel free to correct it or comment.
|
