Chaz,
Using separate muxes is one way, very expensive though. A more likely approach would be to use separate ports on the same routing or switching devices.
Smaller players and startups would be among those who would buy discrete devices, as you suggest, to get them off the ground. The larger entities, however, will likely seek unified solutions, although some of them have already deployed discretes for service piloting and transitioning purposes.
Where the larger carriers and SPs are concerned, separation during some intermediate term, and definitely longer term, will be achieved in logical partitions, using the same common equipment for both voice and data, in other words. And eventually, when it's time to fully integrate voice and data over the same flows, the migration would be done in software.
This is the approach being taken by vendors such as CSCO, LU/ASND, NT, etc., under what each is calling, more or less, their unified networking umbrellas. They all have different names for it, but they're all doing basically the same thing. All in one, as it were, which is one of the overriding fundamental reasons for migrating to IP, in the first place.
FWIW, Frank C. |
