Ascend Delivers IP Multicast Support with IP Navigator
[Okay, if ASND management won't hype itself, I will. Check out the bottom reference to broadcast.com using ASND equipment. With wide distribution of this info to daytraders, I predict that ASND's price will double tomorrow. Pass the word. Pssttt....ASND is an internet company...]
Business Wire - July 20, 1998 08:17
Solution Enables Service Providers to Offer Scalable, Robust Multicast Services with QoS
Ascend Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASND), a leader in wide area network (WAN)
solutions for providers and users of the Public Network, today announced comprehensive IP
multicast support for its IP Navigator software, accelerating the next generation of Internet
services.
Ascend's IP Navigator with Multicast will allow service providers to leverage the potential of
the Internet as a broadcast medium and enable new revenue generating services. IP multicast
protocols are used for content and service delivery on data networks, including Web casting,
video conferencing, and "push" applications, and are the key to the advancement of
innovative Internet services. IP Navigator with Multicast is the latest in a series of
enhancements to IP Navigator, Ascend's IP routing capability based upon the emerging
Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) standard, within the Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF). Running on Ascend's market leading WAN switches, IP Navigator with
Multicast is supplying the industry's first carrier-class implementation of IP multicast
protocols, with guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS) and bandwidth management. IP
Navigator with Multicast extends the multiservice architecture of Ascend's core switches so
that service providers can offer leading edge IP, Frame Relay, and ATM services, delivering
a reliable and scalable solution with comprehensive network and service management
capabilities.
"Our IP multicasting solution is an enabling technology for efficient delivery of next generation
data services on the public network," said Maria Simoneau, IP product marketing manager,
Ascend Communications, Inc. "Deploying IP multicast capabilities to our widespread
carrier-class installed base will have a direct impact on the speed at which the Internet
becomes a broadcast medium. We are delivering the technology that will make the Internet as
a broadcast medium a reality."
Ascend's IP Navigator with Multicast will support the full range of IP multicast protocols,
including Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP), Multicast Open Shortest
Path First (MOSPF), and Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM). This enables service
providers to offer multicast services, which are interoperable with currently deployed
multicast applications on private corporate networks. IP Navigator is managed by the
Navis(tm) family of network and service management products.
Ascend's multicast protocols are part of the IP Navigator software which delivers guaranteed
QoS and bandwidth management, as outlined in the emerging MPLS standard from the
IETF. Ascend's solution removes forwarding responsibility from Layer 3 IP, which provides
group membership and IP multicast addressing, so that Layer 2 Frame Relay and ATM can
provide high-speed data forwarding and QoS for maximum efficiency and value-added
services. Because packet replication and forwarding take place in the Ascend switch
hardware for multicast transmissions, this solution ensures high performance and QoS for a
wide variety of Internet applications.
"IP multicast technology is ushering in the age of convenience. A single connection to the
home will deliver entertainment, news, personal finance information, and more," said Martin
Hall, chief technology officer of Stardust Forums and co-chair of the IP Multicast Initiative.
"Each morning we'll turn on a single device that will tell us what our kids will have for lunch at
school that day, the weather, an up-to-the-minute aerial view of our typical commute route, a
CNN window for news, and the latest on our stock holdings. Carrier-class implementations
of IP multicast, such as Ascend's, scale WANs to support this trend."
IP Navigator is the industry's first shipping implementation of the emerging MPLS standard,
and is the latest in a series of enhancements to IP Navigator, a carrier-class architecture for
Multiservice networks. Ascend is a major force in the MPLS standardization effort, having
contributed to the framework document, the protocol architecture, and the draft for using
MPLS on Frame Relay networks.
Customers Applaud Ascend's Scalable Solution
"Ascend's IP Navigator product allows Digital Broadcast Network to connect into other
national Internet networks using our core switches in every city we have a presence, without
the need for additional router equipment," said Timothy M. Roberts, president/chief technical
officer for Digital Broadcast Network Corporation. "This new model replaces traditional
router-based networks while adding massive performance increases and reducing equipment
space requirements at our Points of Presence. Ascend has again demonstrated its excellence
in design with its IP Navigator, which outperforms other major communication hardware
providers by adding reliability, redundancy, ease of management, quality of service and speed
-- without a single point of failure. This carrier-class implementation of IP multicast will do a
lot to further deployment in the Internet."
Far exceeding the capacity goals outlined in the large scale multicast applications working
group of the IETF, Ascend's IP multicast solution delivers 64,000 simultaneous groups and a
virtually unlimited number of members per group, making it easier for network service
providers to scale solutions to customer needs.
"With 50 million consumer and business users on the Internet today, the growth of broadcast programming, such as television, distance learning tele-courses, and media events will drive the necessity for multicast delivery. Ascend's IP multicast strategy for carrier-class WANs is making content delivery a reality," said Stan Woodward, vice president of sales and marketing for broadcast.com (formerly AudioNet).
Pricing and Availability
IP multicast protocols support will be available in IP Navigator in the fourth quarter of 1998 at no additional charge. The software license for IP Navigator has a U.S. list price of $15,000 per switch.
About Ascend Communications
Ascend Communications, Inc. develops, manufactures, sells and services wide area
networking solutions for telecommunications carriers, Internet service providers and
corporate customers worldwide.
Press and industry analysts please contact Julie Asher, Alexander Communications, (404)
897-2300 or jasher@alexandercom.com. Investors and financial analysts, please contact
Kristina Graziano, (510) 747-2345 or kristina.graziano@ascend.com. For all other inquiries
please call toll-free: 800/ASCEND4.
For more information about Ascend and its products, please visit the Ascend web site at
www.ascend.com, or send e-mail to info@ascend.com. Ascend is headquartered at One
Ascend Plaza, 1701 Harbor Bay Parkway, Alameda, Calif. 94502; phone is
800/ASCEND4 and fax is 510/814-2300.
For the audio broadcast of this release, please visit Ascend's web site at www.ascend.com.
The foregoing statements may contain forward looking statements that are based on current
expectations and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from
these expectations as a result of factors including, but not limited to, the Company's success
in developing, introducing or shipping new products, competition, the mix of distribution
channels employed, the Company's dependence on single or limited source suppliers for
certain components used in its products, risks inherent in international sales, seasonality and
general economic conditions. These and other factors are discussed in Ascend's 10-K, 10-Q
and other filings made periodically with the Securities and Exchange Commission
CONTACT: Alexander Communications Ascend Communications
Julie Asher Mike Robinson
404-897-2300 978-952-1576
jasher@alexandercom.com michael.robinson@ascend.com
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