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Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications-News Only!!! (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Matt Quigley who wrote (1231)	2/28/1998 12:58:00 AM
From: Gary Korn	Respond to of 1629

The following article about the CBX 500 was called to my attention by a friend. Some people sure are kicking butt out there in Massachusetts! Telecommunications Magazine - Feb 98 telecoms-mag.com. Product of the Month -- Ascend Communications' CBX 500 ATM Switch Provides Multiservice Capability at the Network Core With the introduction of two new modules, the CBX 500 ATM switch has taken a giant step toward addressing the network needs of both the carrier and the enterprise. Supporting ATM, frame relay, and IP in a singleÿ platform designed for the network edge or core, the switch delivers multiservice capabilities that allow service providers to consolidate their services onto one platform with end-to-end QoS throughout their network. Especially attractive is its ability to run IP over frame relay. The CBX 500 blends IP, frame relay, and legacy voice and data service features almost perfectly for the mix of revenues and traffic we can expect in the next decade, and it throws in the best management features for the creation and maintenance of multiservice networks available anywhere at any price, says Tom Nolle, president of CIMI, a consultant firm based in Voorhees, N.J. The switch is the first product to be designed for use at the core of a multiservice IP-legacy network with its high-speed interfaces, and the IP Navigator is the best public IP ATM architecture released to date. It also combines ATM legacy and IP traffic intelligently, forsaking low-speed ports for OC-3 speeds and higher. The addition of frame relay and IP capability enables the platform to fulfill its network core mission. The six-port DS3/E3 module provides both IP routing for cell- and frame-based IP traffic as well as clear channel DS3/E3 frame relay switching. It combines with the 14-slot platform to offer a total of 84 DS3/E3 ports, each one software-configurable for frame relay, IP, or both. High-speed ATM trunking can be achieved with its frame relay to ATM interworking capability. The module also integrates with the platform's IP Navigator software to provide routing functionality for the entire switch. The four-port 100-Mbps Ethernet module provides carriers both backbone support and high-speed Ethernet access to the vendor's IP switch and/or local Internet hosting servers using MPT or standard PVCs. In addition, their ATM backbone and IP-based file servers can be interfaced to consolidate infrastructure and management systems. Together, the two modules support up to 250,000 IP routes. According to Cathy Gadecki, senior broadband consultant with TeleChoice (Verona, N.J.), the switch has a number of selling points. "It's a good box. I like its ability to provision a frame relay PVC all the way through a carrier's ATM core and out the other end. Many ISPs who find frame relay is cheaper than a straight private line for carrying IP will like this platform. Having one card that supports both these services means less administrative and operational headaches, too. And it's a nice architecture for an ISP POP, since users can terminate their IP traffic into the box, then bring the data to their router backbone over the local Ethernet and not use up all their router ports." Available in Q1 1998, the DS3/E3 frame relay and 100-Mbps Ethernet modules list at $10,000 per port and $12,500 per port, respectively. Forÿ more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ascend.com.