[ Interoperability breeds creativity ]
Vendor alliances pay off in new ADSL, optical networking gear.
... In addition to announcing the availability of Version 3.0 of its end-to-end ADSL 1000 system, Alcatel Network Systems (Richardson, Texas) debuted its solution to the DLC dilemma, the Mini-RAM remote access module. The self-contained unit, which supports up to eight full-rate or splitterless ADSL lines, will be available this quarter. BellSouth executives voiced their hopes that Alcatel's impending acquisition of DSC Communications (Plano, Texas) will lead to swift integration of Alcatel's DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM) functionality into DSC's Litespan DLC. About 82,000 of BellSouth's 8 million customers who are served by DLCs are connected to a Litespan, according to a BellSouth spokesman. Alcatel declined to provide any details on when such integration would occur.
In the meantime, BellSouth has a plan. "We are looking forward to an Alcatel/DSC DLC solution and we want it as soon as possible, but we have three interim solutions in mind," says John Cahill, executive director-advanced networking for BellSouth and co-chair of the Universal ADSL Working Group (UAWG). Those solutions include the Mini-RAM, remote DSLAMs that can withstand the outside plant environment (a.k.a. hardened), or non-hardened DSLAMs installed inside a controlled environment vault. ADSL deployment at DLC sites will begin by year's end, Cahill says....
.... 3Com also demonstrated interoperability between its new OfficeConnect Remote 811 ADSL router and Lucent Technologies' (Murray Hill, N.J.) AnyMedia Fast ADSL Application Pack integrated into Lucent's 5ESSR-2000 AnyMedia switch. The vendors will continue to work together to ensure interoperability between current and future products. 3Com also announced it is working with Newbridge Networks (Kanata, Ontario) to facilitate interoperable network and service management ADSL solutions for each other's gear. Newbridge announced an ADSL interoperability effort with Efficient Networks.
In addition to 3Com, Lucent also is working with Westell to integrate Westell's SuperVision ADSL DSLAM capability into its widely deployed SLC 5 and SLC 2000 DLCs. The first generation of line cards will support two ADSL lines per card. The cards will convert the data traffic into ATM cells and statistically multiplex them onto an OC-3 linked to a carrier's ATM network. The DLCs will support up to 22 ADSL lines, or 11 cards per statistical multiplexer, according to Linda Manchester, director of DSL for Lucent. The DLC cards will be ready for beta testing by year's end and be available early next year.
Westell also is working with Lucent to integrate its SuperVision DSLAM with Lucent's 5ESS. The DSLAM will be physically collocated in the equipment bays that house the switch. It also will be integrated with the switch's wiring and operations support systems (OSSs) to provide seamless provisioning and operations and to minimize wiring, says Bill Rodey, vice president of channel sales for Westell. Initially, one bay will support 250 ADSL lines. The 5ESS integrated DSLAM will be available this quarter, he adds.
Lucent's Microelectronics Group (Berkley Heights, N.J.), Analog Devices Inc. (Wilmington, Mass.), and Aware demonstrated interoperability between a prototype Universal ADSL (UADSL) modem based on Lucent's DSP 1690 WildWire DSL G.lite chipset and an Aware router containing an Analog Devices AD20msp910 DSL G.lite chip set. Both chips will be upgraded to the Universal ADSL (UADSL; also known as G.lite, both of which connote splitterless, sub-rate ADSL) standard once it's been approved by the UAWG and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)....
americasnetwork.com |
