Lucent Technologies Extends Data Portfolio with Carrier-Class Multiservice Access Concentrator
PR Newswire - March 16, 1998 09:40
LU %CPR %PDT V%PRN P%PRN
MURRAY HILL, N.J., March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Lucent Technologies today
announced the industry's highest capacity, multiservice access concentrator
for network operators, including public carriers, Internet Service Providers,
and large corporations. Developed by Lucent's Remote Access Business Unit,
formerly Livingston Enterprises, the ultra-reliable PortMaster(R) 4 delivers
higher port density than leading competitors, giving service providers greater
revenue potential per square foot of floor space.
In addition to its high density, the PortMaster 4 is the only product in
its class to support any service on any port at any time, automatically. When
a switched call comes in on a single phone number or hunt group on any of its
ports, the system intelligently determines the type of call -- such as
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), ISDN data-over-voice, K56flex or
V.90 modem -- and switches service on that port to accommodate the call. This
capability enables the provider to always have the optimal network
configuration as traffic patterns change throughout the day, from heavy ISDN
use during the business day to heavy modem access in the evening. It also
saves network operators considerable re-provisioning expense when customers
change their access methods.
"The tremendous growth of data traffic is putting a very real strain on
network providers to deliver bandwidth whenever and wherever customers want
it, across an expanding mix of services, and at a competitive price," said
Bill O'Shea, group president for the Data Networking Systems Group at Lucent.
"With our deep carrier experience, we at Lucent understand what providers need
to build and manage highly reliable, flexible, expandable networks that will
enable them to meet these competing demands. And that's exactly what the
PortMaster 4 is designed to do -- help providers succeed in this rapidly
changing technical and business environment."
With the PortMaster 4, network service providers can offer a wide range of
access applications from a single chassis, including traditional Internet
access and new services such as wholesaling, outsourcing, and virtual private
networks (VPNs). For large corporations, the PortMaster 4 combines a
high-capacity remote access server with remote Local Area Networking (LAN)
access and high-performance extranet routing. The product also enables
providers to define classes of service -- such as email or browser -- on a
per-user basis.
In a single 19w x 18d x 15.75h inch 10-slot chassis, the PortMaster 4
initially supports up to 864 simultaneous ISDN, 56K modem (V.90 or K56flex)
connections. It handles as many as 4,320 such connections or 180 T1/PRI in a
7-foot rack. In addition, any DS0 within a T1/E1 can support frame relay,
leased line or switched access. The PortMaster 4 also supports a complete
channelized T3 complement of access in a single shelf.
Top Performance Even at Full Load
To ensure that providers can use the PortMaster 4's full capacity with no
performance degradation, the product features an embedded 5-Gbps Asynchronous
Transfer Mode (ATM) cell-switching fabric and a distributed multiprocessor
architecture in which PPP processing, filtering, compression, encryption and
packet forwarding are distributed to each card. Like the industry trend to
switch-based routers, this approach ensures fixed low latency and enables each
module to act independently with none of the arbitration inherent in
traditional bus and central processor architectures. Moreover, the switch
fabric delivers 155 Mbps full-duplex capacity to each slot, compared with
other products on the market with 155 Mbps for the entire backplane.
Fault Tolerant Design
To deliver the ultra-reliability and serviceability the carrier market
requires, the PortMaster 4 also features a fully redundant, fault-tolerant
design -- including redundant controller, switch fabric, power and fans --
that eliminates all single points of failure. In addition, the PortMaster 4
enables in-service call diagnostics and allows for "hot-swapping" of fans,
power units, and modules, with each modem module card containing hot-standby
DSPs. The PortMaster 4 is designed to comply with industry standards, such as
NEBS level 3.
Also key to the PortMaster 4's fault tolerant design is the fact that it
runs on Lucent's industry-proven ComOS(R) operating system. Tested and
refined for nearly a decade, ComOS provides the most stable routing protocol
implementation and exceptional scalability features. It supports two-thirds
of the total ports providing remote access to the Internet today. ComOS
supports the key IP routing protocols, including RIP, OSPF and BGP4. The
PortMaster 4 supports both SNMP management as well as Lucent's Java(TM)-based
PMconsole configuration and management utility and will also be supported in a
future version of Lucent's OneVision(TM) Network Management platform.
Future Proof Architecture
The advanced architecture of the PortMaster 4 ensures that providers will
be able to adapt to new technologies as they emerge. The PortMaster 4 has one
slot of 622 Mbps full-duplex capacity on its switching fabric in reserve,
available for future support for technologies such as xDSL (Digital Subscriber
Line), SONET and ATM. In addition, the fixed low latency of the switch fabric
will enable future releases of the product to support high-quality
Voice-over-IP.
Leveraging Lucent's unrivaled expertise in voice communications, the
PortMaster 4 is designed to deliver WAN optimizations, such as Multi-chassis
NFAS and support for Signaling System Number 7 (SS7), in upcoming releases.
This support will provide additional network interconnect flexibility while
enabling value-added intelligent network services and providing capital cost
savings.
The high-density PortMaster 4 joins the medium-density PortMaster 3 access
concentrator and PortMaster 2 series of fixed port communication servers as
part of Lucent's full line of remote access products.
Pricing and Availability
The PortMaster 4 is available for ordering now and will ship in Q2 1998.
List price for a fully configured system -- with chassis, power supply, System
Manager Module with 100 Mbps Ethernet, modem modules and configuration,
management, routing and WAN software -- is $519 per port. Initially available
modules include a channelized T3 and E3 module that multiplexes T1/E1 streams
within T3/E3, a quad T1 98-modem module and a tri E1 98-modem module featuring
"True Digital" Lucent DSP modem architecture, and an ISDN/frame relay/leased
line module.
Through its Remote Access Business Unit (formerly Livingston Enterprises
Inc.), Lucent provides dependable, integrated remote access solutions for
Internet service providers and enterprise networks worldwide. More than 2,000
ISPs use the company's PortMaster remote access servers, IRX and FireWall IRX
and Office Router products. The group's RADIUS protocol has become an
industry standard for providing Internet access authentication, authorization,
and accounting information.
Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., designs, builds
and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications
systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and
microelectronic components. Bell Labs is the research and development arm for
the company. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit the company's
web site at lucent.com.
ComOS and PortMaster are registered trademarks and OneVision, PortMaster
and IRX are trademarks of Lucent Technologies, Inc. Java is a trademark of
Sun(R) Microsystems, Inc.
SOURCE Lucent Technologies
/CONTACT: Linda Pugliano, 908-953-7526, NJ office, 603-595-1362, home
office or pugliano@lucent.com, or Gary Proefke, 510-737-2241 or
garyp@livingston.com, both of Lucent Technologies/
/Web site: lucent.com
(LU) |
