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(COMTEX) ASCEND COMMUNICATIONS: Ascend announces new modules offering
ASCEND COMMUNICATIONS: Ascend announces new modules offering breakthrough
capabilities
DEC 9, 1997, M2 Communications - Ascend Communications, Inc.,
(NASDAQ:ASND) today announced four new modules for its B-STDX
Multiservice Frame Relay 8000/9000 WAN switches offering customers new
levels of performance and cost-efficiency. In addition, the company
announced it has shipped over one million Frame Relay WAN switch ports
since introducing its flagship STDX and B-STDX switches in 1992. Four
leading industry analyst organizations confirmed that carriers and ISPs
have consistently selected the company's Frame Relay switches, making
Ascend the number one Frame Relay equipment provider worldwide in 1996
and again in 1997. Ascend Frame Relay marketshare leadership has
recently been confirmed by Vertical Systems Group, Dataquest,
Infonetics and International Data Corporation.
Ascend credits technological innovation for the success of its
products, and today extends that technology lead with the introduction
of four new modules for the B-STDX 8000/9000 product family:
1) Channelized DS 3/1/0 module,
2) 12-port E1 module,
3) ATM DS3/E3 Cell Switching module, and
4) ATM OC-3/STM-1 Interworking Unit.
With this announcement, Ascend continues to provide its customers
with new and improved tools to meet all their demands for service,
speed and density. With these new modules, the B-STDX offers the
industry's highest port density for DS0 and DS1/E1 at the lowest price
per port, the best performance with its distributed processing
architecture, and the only multiservice solution that can support both
Frame Relay and IP in a single module. In addition, the B-STDX supports
integrated ATM with second generation Frame Relay-to-ATM interworking
and native cell switching.
"We're committed to continuing to make our service provider customers
successful with their current investments in Frame Relay by delivering
them new products and services to increase revenue and lower costs,"
said Bob Sullebarger, Senior Manager, Product Marketing, Core Systems
Division at Ascend. "We not only lead the market in port density and
cost per port, but also add significant value-add such as Quality of
Service (QoS) for differentiated services."
Ascend is the only vendor to provide carrier-class Frame Relay WAN
switching that delivers the density, scalability and management
features required by service providers to bring Frame Relay services to
corporate customers. The company has a history of providing innovative
Frame Relay solutions to service providers. Ascend was the first vendor
to deliver production-ready Frame Relay-to-ATM interworking more than
two years ago. Ascend was also the first to deliver high-speed Frame
Relay (at 45 Mbps) and Switched Virtual Circuits (SVCs) for Frame
Relay. The company also announced and delivered QoS for Frame Relay
Ascend is the only vendor to provide end-to-end network and service
management and provisioning for multiservice Frame Relay, ATM, and IP
environments through its Navis family of network management products.
With the Navis family of products, service providers gain increased
control and reduced operations and provisioning costs and new sources
of revenue.
Channelized DS 3/1/0 Module
In response to continued strong demand for DS0 connections, Ascend is
introducing a channelized DS3 module with channelization down to the
DS0 level, which offers twice the density of competitive products and
the lowest price per port. A single module can support 28 DS1 channels
or 672 DS0 channels, or a combination of both. As with all B-STDX
modules the new Ascend DS 3/1/0 module supports both Frame Relay and IP
services.
"Our service provider customers are always looking for higher-density
solutions, and Ascend has consistently led the industry in delivering
higher port densities and lower costs," said Hassan Ahmed, vice
president of engineering, Core Systems Division at Ascend. "We are also
the only vendor to deliver the network management tools that help
service providers automate the configuration and provisioning
challenges that come with these high-density solutions."
Ascend's automated NavisXtend Provisioning Server can reduce the
provisioning time for a DS0 or DS1 circuit from 10 minutes to 5
seconds. The provisioning server is linked into the service provider's
existing order entry systems, creating an integrated operations
solution.
12 Port E1 Module
Responding to the growing demand for Frame Relay services
internationally, Ascend is introducing a 12 port E1 module that offers
three times the density of existing E1 Frame Relay solutions. Like the
DS 3/1/0 module, the 12 port E1 module is a multiservice solution that
supports Frame Relay and IP, and has a distributed processing
architecture to scale processing and port density simultaneously.
This module supports ML-PPP software, which allows service providers
to bond multiple E1 lines, creating an additional high-speed access
alternative to expensive E3 circuits.
Frame Relay-to-ATM Interworking Modules
Ascend is introducing its second-generation solution with two new ATM
(IWU).
By offering Frame Relay-to-ATM connections at up to OC-3 speeds,
Ascend is addressing the requirement to scale backbone capacity for
Frame Relay networks. The two modules enable service providers to
provide both network interworking (connecting Frame Relay devices over
an ATM backbone) and service interworking (connecting a Frame Relay
device to an ATM device). Service Interworking allows enterprise
customers to migrate their corporate headquarters to high capacity ATM
while retaining cost-effective Frame Relay at remote offices.
Availability
The Channelized DS 3/1/0 module will be available in Q1, '98. The 12
port E1 module is available immediately. The DS3/E3 Cell Switching
Module and OC-3/STM-1 Modules are both available immediately.
About Ascend Communications
Ascend Communications, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells wide
area networking solutions for telecommunications carriers, Internet
service providers, and corporate customers worldwide. For more
information about Ascend and its products, please visit the Ascend web
site at ascend.com, or e-mail info@ascend.com.
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