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Technology Stocks : TLAB info? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jhg_in_kc who wrote (5786)	6/27/1999 7:50:00 PM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Respond to of 7342

Thery are both switches, on some level. The term "switch" is commonly used to denote a telephone company end-office or tandem (deeper into the network) platform such as the one you frequently use to support your dynamic (frequent and to different locations) calling requirements. It essentially directs low-capacity voice channels from one place to another on a per call basis. The term "cross-connect," in contrast, when used in the context of a larger central office digital device, refers to a less dynamic vehicle that is used to "map" very large chunks of bandwidth like T1s, T3s and optical level signals from one route to another. The digital cross connect system, or DCS, is a kind of junction box, to use a lay term, that can be programmed to take certain amounts of bandwidth from Route A, say, and connect it to Route B. Route A might be a pipe containing multiple T3s between L.A. and Denver, and Route B might be a similar pipe between Denver and Chicago. In Denver, where the DCS resides, a specific T3 on Route A could be cross connected to another T3 on Route B through the use of the DCS. This would, in effect, permit the provisioning of a T3 service between L.A. and Chicago, through the cross connection established in Denver. DCSs also have other functions, like adding and dropping channels along a route, known as add-drop functions. These are overly simplified explanations, but I think they make the point. Cross connects can be either passive or active in nature. The passive ones merely support wiring of one path to another at a physical wiring block. But those are not the ones you are asking about. You are inquiring about the digital ones which are active. These are much larger central office devices, and they are configured under software controlled methods. HTH. Regards, Frank Coluccio