Ascend extends multicast to the WAN, launches signaling
software
August 18, 1998
ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING TIMES via NewsEdge
Corporation : Alameda, Calif. - Ascend Communications
Inc. is following a two-pronged strategy this summer to
bring advanced software features to broadband
switching in the wide-area network. The company will
add IP Multicast adjuncts to its IP Navigator suite this
month. In addition, Ascend is rolling out a signaling
gateway to link its packet switches directly to a
Signaling System 7 (SS7) circuit-switched network.
IP Navigator, which won a host of awards when the
former Cascade Communications introduced it two years
ago, is routing software that complies with the IETF's
Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) standard. It is
similar to Cisco Systems Inc.'s "tag switching"
technology in setting up multihop paths that identify an
Internet Protocol packet by its header. IP Navigator with
Multicast is one of the first packages to support the
assignment of IP multicast groups in the WAN. It relies
on the Internet Group Membership Protocol used by the
IP Multicast standard.
The Ascend package supports a mix of multicast routing
methods, including Distance Vector Multicast Routing
Protocol, Multicast Open Shortest Path First and
Protocol Independent Multicast. For ATM switches, the
routing protocols can associate groups with a particular
ATM virtual circuit. Maria Simoneau, IP product
marketing manager at Ascend, said that even though
initial IP Multicast products came from LAN specialists
like Precept Software, Ascend is convinced a wider
market exists for sending streaming video,
group-learning applications and similar multicast vertical
applications over the public network.
Mix of services
The package is being bundled as part of the standard IP
Navigator suite for GX 550, CBX 500 and B-STDX 9000
frame relay and ATM switches, with software prices
starting at $15,000 per switch platform. Ascend also is
planning IP Navigator rollouts for MAX central-office
concentrators, bringing xDSL access lines into the mix of
services supported by multicast.
Meanwhile, for the legacy circuit-switched side of the
WAN, the Ascend Signaling Gateway (ASG) allows
carriers and Internet service providers to explicitly
offload the traffic from Class 4 and 5 central-office
switching equipment onto WAN-access switches
typically used in data-overlay networks.
Ascend has used Hewlett-Packard Co.'s OpenCall
architecture as the core for its gateway. The two
companies agreed in May to collaborate on a mix of SS7
and Advanced Intelligent Network capabilities for
telephony networks.
Ascend will use OpenCall to develop a mix of
application packages for voice and data, with the first
being ASG. Next-generation releases of ASG will
integrate the applications directly with SS7 signaling
stacks, the company said.
The release of ASG that's slated for August will support
10,000 to 50,000 ports, with additional scaling to 200,000
ports due in coming months. Price will be $69 to $101 per
port, depending on feature set.
Copyright - 1998 CMP Media Inc.
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