Newbridge Networks Receives Data Communications Magazine
Tester's Choice Award
MARCH 18, 1999
KANATA, ONTARIO--MainStreetXpress(tm) 36170 Multiservices Switch
Recognized for Superior Frame Relay to ATM Interworking Capabilities.
Newbridge Networks (NYSE: NN; TSE: NNC) today announced that the
industry-leading Siemens / Newbridge MainStreetXpress 36170
Multiservices Switch has been awarded the Data Communications
Magazine Tester's Choice award. The award, which comes as a result
of independent testing by Paris-based European Network
Laboratories (ENL), recognizes the MainStreetXpress 36170
Multiservices Switch for its superior performance in delivering
critical frame relay to asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)
interworking capabilities.
When tested against frame relay to ATM switches from other major
networking vendors, the MainStreetXpress 36170 Multiservices
Switch was the only offering to post perfect results in baseline
throughput, committed information rate (CIR) contract and
prioritization tests -- all critical elements of service level
agreements (SLAs) between service providers and their customers.
According to David Newman, Senior Technology Editor, Data
Communications Magazine, and Robert Mandeville, Director, European
Network Laboratories: "The MainStreetXpress 36170 Multiservices
Switch is a breed apart: It not only aced our CIR and
prioritization tests, but also it offers high port density and a
rich set of traffic-shaping features."
"Newbridge is proud to have the superiority of the
MainStreetXpress 36170 Multiservices Switch recognized by Data
Communications," said Brian Jervis, Executive Vice President,
Switching Products Group, Newbridge Networks. "As the test results
show, the MainStreetXpress 36170 Multiservices Switch is the
industry's only offering that optimizes throughput, ensures the
delivery of mission-critical frame relay traffic and provides full
CIR to all connections. This is incredibly important to service
providers who face penalties if their SLAs are not met. Newbridge
clearly delivers a competitive advantage to service providers and
their customers." To ensure accurate, real world service provider network
implementations, ENL had the participating switches pass traffic
across 1,600 connections distributed across 40 ports on two
switches. Highlights of their findings are as follows: Baseline Throughput
When it came to baseline throughput, the MainStreetXpress 36170
Multiservices Switch recorded the highest overall aggregate
figures. It was the only tested switch to give service providers
outstanding throughput when delivering frame relay services to
multiple customers, even under high network loads. CIR Enforcement
While testing CIR enforcement, Data Communications deliberately
overloaded inbound ATM and outbound frame relay ports but left
enough bandwidth available to deliver CIR levels for all
connections. Only the Newbridge switch managed to deliver the
contracted CIR of 32 kb/s to all connections.
Frame Relay Traffic Prioritization
Data Communications also tested the prioritization ability of the
switches to see if they could deliver all high-priority frame
relay traffic, without loss, at a CIR of 51.2 kb/s. They used the
same traffic pattern as in the CIR test but earmarked 66 virtual
circuits (VCs) among the first 11 frame relay ports to carry
high-priority traffic. They also overloaded the ATM backbone by
offering a steady stream of constant bit rate (CBR) traffic on the
backbone link. According to Data Communications, only the
MainStreetXpress 36170 Multiservices Switch hit the prioritization
targets "dead-on."
The MainStreetXpress 36170 Multiservices Switch, deployed in the
networks of more than 300 of the world's largest service
providers, supports multiple high bandwidth services including
cell relay, frame relay, circuit emulation and internetworking. It
is an ideal solution for delivering a variety of services for
transport across a single ATM infrastructure. With the
MainStreetXpress 36170, service providers benefit from the
integration of frame relay and ATM on the same platform. The
system also supports unprecedented scalability. Service providers
can start with a single shelf 800 Mb/s system and expand to the
world's largest frame relay switch, with up to 12.8 Gb/s (6,000
T1/E1s) capacity. It is the only switch that offers a physical
interface for Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS).
Newbridge Networks designs, manufactures, markets and services
networking solutions to organizations in more than 100 countries.
The Company leverages its relationship with a growing family of
Newbridge(r) Affiliate companies and strategic alliances with
Siemens and 3Com Corporation to deliver seamless, end-to-end
solutions. Newbridge customers include the world's 300 largest
telecommunications service providers and more than 10,000
corporations, government organizations and other institutions.
Founded in 1986, the Company employs more than 6,000 people on six
continents. News and information are available at www.newbridge.com.
Newbridge, logo are registered trademarks of Newbridge Networks Corporation.
MainStreetXpress is a trademark used by the Siemens / Newbridge
alliance for comprehensive solutions in broadband communication.
No agency relationship, partnership, or joint ownership of a legal
entity is to be inferred or implied by the use of the term alliance. |
