New Analog Technologies: Solving The Bandwidth Bottleneck
SANTA CLARA, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is an open letter from
Ramp Networks Founder and President Mahesh Veerina:
Downloading a complex web page from the Internet usually means that it's a
good time to take a coffee break. Better make that instant coffee. New
analog technologies offer affordable and viable solutions for today's
bandwidth hungry electronic world.
You'll no doubt be hearing a lot about these technologies at next week's
Internet World trade show. Several vendors have recently announced analog
channel bonding, a technology which allows two lines to be bonded together,
effectively doubling the speed. However, there are various approaches to this
newest effort to solve the bandwidth bottleneck-and many of them pose
significant challenges for users and service providers.
Multilink Point to Point Protocol (MLPPP), is one approach for analog
channel bonding, but requires changes to the current Internet infrastructure.
MLPPP requires support at BOTH ends of the connection, both modem and ISP.
Also, since MLPPP only works if both calls land on the same chassis of the
remote access equipment, ISPs will have to, in essence, "reserve" ports for
MLPPP users.
Currently, less than 1% of Internet ports support MLPPP and only a handful
of national ISPs have announced intentions to support it. MLPPP is a good
solution, but it is really only viable for corporate networks and intranets
where the user controls both ends of the connection. MP+, another protocol
being touted by some vendors, has the same issues as MLPPP and is supported
only by Ascend and a few other vendors. Neither MLPPP or MP+ are appropriate
solutions for general web browsing use today. And isn't web page downloading
the application where most users are most frustrated with their access speeds?
Ramp Networks has taken a different approach to the challenge of
dramatically improving data access speed with its own implementation of
"analog channel bonding". Ramp's patent-pending Connection Optimized Link
Technology (COLT) is the breakthrough that results in a dramatic increase in
web browsing speeds-and it's available on Ramp products today.
With the WebRamp M3 family of integrated analog router/hubs, shipping for
more than seven months, users can download a single page and disperse it over
three modem connections-increasing the speed of data access up to three times
faster than a single modem. Users simply connect 3 external modems to serial
ports on the WebRamp M3. The WebRamp M3 takes advantage of the fact that web
pages open separate TCP/IP connections for the different elements of the web
page. The WebRamp M3, using 1, 2 or 3 modems, downloads the different
elements over the separate modems, essentially "aggregating" the bandwidth for
web browsing.
Unlike MLPPP, WebRamp M3 uses existing modems, requires only a single ISP
port for each modem, uses existing phone lines and does not require any
infrastructure or billing changes from ISPs. WebRamp M3 is the first and still
the only solution available today that meets the growing demands for more
browsing bandwidth, easily and affordably.
There's a myriad of emerging technologies that hold the promise of higher
bandwidths at affordable prices, but even the most aggressive predictions for
deployment of these technologies don't have them surpassing analog telephone
lines until 2005 or later. The laundry list of future hopefuls is lengthy,
each with its own challenges. Two-way cable modem technology is currently
supported by less than 10% of today's cable plants. One-way cable with phone
lines or wireless returns are also limited to relatively few areas.
Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Loop (ADSL), a copper-based multimegabit
dedicated link, requires purchase and installation both by end-users and for
telephone company central office equipment-a significant expenditure of time
and money. Synchronous Digital Subscriber Loop (SDSL), copper-based
technology being popularized as megabit or 768kb, also requires new end-user
and infrastructure equipment. New spectrum allocations make wireless
solutions attractive, but, like the market for satellite television, these
solutions will be most appealing to those who cannot access other
technologies. Finally, powerlines can carry data at megabit or above rates,
but this is still in the early stage of development.
T-1 and ISDN lines provide speedy, but expensive, non-modem based
solutions. The prohibitive cost of T-1 lines generally limits their use to
larger corporations. ISDN lines can also be prohibitively expensive for home
and small businesses and are available only in select, usually major metro,
areas in the U.S. But the biggest barrier for ISDN adoption is the perception
(and often reality) of technical complexity. The average non-technical home
and small business user, without professional IT support in house, has just
recently reached a comfort level with modem technology-ISDN is a further step
that many are just not yet comfortable taking.
By providing the speed of ISDN with the familiarity of the modem and no
change to the Internet infrastructure, Ramp Networks products are today's most
affordable and viable solutions.
The only downside may be to the coffee industry-fewer coffee breaks.
For a white paper on Ramp Network's Connection Optimized Link Technology
(COLT) contact Rochelle Ross at 1-888-726-7638 x232 or Wendy Grubow, Eastwick
Communications at 1-408-620-1415.
SOURCE Ramp Networks
CONTACT: Rochelle Ross, 888-726-7638 x232 or Wendy Grubow,Eastwick Communications, 408-620-1415 |
