ASCOM TIMEPLEX DEBUTS FIRST EFFECTIVE SINGLE-BOX BACKBONE SOLUTION FOR VOICE, VIDEO, LAN AND LEGACY DATA CONSOLIDATION

Synchrony ST-1000 Simplifies Creation of a Single, Cost-Effective Backbone Network that Efficiently and Reliably Supports Multiple Business-Critical Applications

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., February 27, 1995 -- Ascom Timeplex today made it easier and less expensive for large corporations to build and maintain a single core high-speed backbone infrastructure capable of efficiently and reliably transporting all their inter-branch communications. The Synchrony ST-1000 is the first single-box switching node able to effectively combine voice, video, legacy data and other delay-sensitive applications with bursty LAN data traffic for wide-area transport.

The ST-1000, the latest addition to Ascom Timeplex's Synchrony family of wide-area networking products, sets a new standard for multi-service integration by combining for the first time two unique, industry-leading technologies -- Express Switching and Express Routing. Together, Express Switching and Express Routing provide the most efficient use of bandwidth available today while reducing network complexity and guaranteeing appropriate quality of service levels to delay-sensitive traffic such as SNA. By interconnecting ST-1000s at multiple branch sites, corporations can consolidate traffic from voice PBXs, LAN internetworks, videoconferencing systems and legacy host networks onto one easily manageable, cost-effective infrastructure.

"The Synchrony ST-1000, together with the rest of Ascom Timeplex's broad range of networking products, offers the best solution for the vast majority of today's wide-area networking applications, and is the logical choice for providing an on-ramp to the broadband ATM networks of tomorrow," said Randy Phillips, president and COO of Ascom Timeplex. "Ascom Timeplex is determined to continue its leadership in providing scalable enterprise networking solutions that unify LAN and WAN technologies."

According to IDC, the continuing need for efficient bandwidth utilization both in the U.S. and abroad caused the market for T1/E1 bandwidth managers to grow by 11 percent from 1993 to 1994, to a total of $1.0 billion in sales. Ascom Timeplex is one of the top two vendors dominating this market with a 20.3 percent market share.

Single-Box Backbone Switching Node

The Synchrony ST-1000 multi-service switching node combines in a single chassis all the functionality required for consolidating all of a corporation's communications needs onto one network infrastructure. The ST-1000 simplifies the installation, maintenance and management of data communications equipment, while improving reliability and lowering costs by integrating hybrid switch, hub, router, bridge and all the key communications functions into a single, manageable system.

The ST-1000 offers the highest level of integration of any backbone switching node on the market, replacing as many as five separate boxes, and all the interconnecting cabling. Ascom Timeplex's modular, upgradable ST-1000 combines hybrid frame relay and circuit switching, Ethernet, Token Ring and FDDI router functions, legacy protocol support, DSU/CSU, dial-up backup modem and voice compression in a single, compact enclosure.

Express Routing

The ST-1000 is the first Synchrony product in incorporate Ascom Timeplex's proven Express Routing technology. Express Routing enables network managers to maintain the performance of legacy applications in an integrated LAN/legacy network by letting them assign quality of service levels to individual data streams on and end-to-end basis. These data streams can be prioritized by protocol, address, application or user to ensure that business-critical applications can share the same network on a non-interfering basis with other less critical traffic.

Unlike most conventional router-based networks that integrate SNA and other legacy protocols by encapsulating them in a connectionless LAN protocol like TCP/IP, Express Routing creates a connection-oriented infrastructure through the wide area using frame relay permanent virtual circuits (PVCs) to deliver information more quickly and reliably than conventional routing. PVCs provide a simplified logical "underlayment" for the various LAN protocols, and greatly improve overall performance because data is switched by frame relay as it traverses intermediate routers between the source and destination nodes, a process that is much faster than full protocol routing.

Express Routing reduces complexity in the wide area network by creating a logical path from each router to every other router bordering the WAN. This eliminates the need for network-layer routing at intermediate nodes, which simplifies device configuration, performance monitoring and the presentation of network topology. As a result, network operators benefit from a clear, consolidated picture of the WAN, reducing installation time and minimizing maintenance effort.

Express Switching

Wide area bandwidth is one of the largest recurring costs in any network. Ascom Timeplex's advanced Express Switching lets the Synchrony ST-1000 multi-service backbone switching node provide maximum bandwidth efficiency by responding dynamically to an organization's varying bandwidth requirements. Network managers now have a cost-effective way to meet real-world bandwidth demands, with cost savings for large corporations and emerging carriers that can easily reach more than $1 million annually.

With Express Switching, delay-sensitive, constant-bit-rate traffic (such as switched voice or video) and frame-based, variable-bit-rate data (such as bursty LAN internetwork traffic and delay-sensitive SNA traffic) are each allocated a guaranteed minimum portion of the available bandwidth on internodal links. Express Switching then dynamically assigns the remaining unreserved, or "breathable," bandwidth to either bursty variable-bit-rate traffic that exceeds its normal bandwidth allotment, or to increased constant-bit-rate traffic caused by unexpected voice calling patterns or a failed link. In addition, Express Switching provides bandwidth for constant-bit-rate traffic only when a session is actually active. As a result, Express Switching ensures the minimal requirements for both types of traffic are met while unused bandwidth is made available to meet varying network demands.

Voice Capabilities

The ST-1000 can be connected to many different voice systems and supports several voice compression methods. By combining bandwidth contention with voice compression, the ST-1000 makes very efficient use of wide-area bandwidth. Voice traffic can be compressed to 8 kbps and combined with sub-rate data channels as small as 2.4 kbps. Some of the bandwidth available to voice traffic can also be shared with frame based data for maximum cost effectiveness.

Frame Relay Switching

The ST-1000 provides full frame relay switching functions including standard addressing, congestion management and frame relay access. Throughput is scaleable, starting at 8,000 frames per second with increments of 8,000 frames per second.

LAN Internetworking

ST-1000 accepts fully functional and highly featured routing processor modules that enable LAN internetworking traffic to be routed with voice traffic over scarce wide area bandwidth. The LAN router options include Ethernet, Token Ring and FDDI (both single and multimode fiber).

The routing modules provide routing of IP, IPX, AppleTalk, OSI, and XNS, with routing provided by OSPF or RIP. Bridging capabilities provide transport for NetBIOS and other non-routable protocols. These modules' Express Routing capability guarantees that delay-sensitive protocols are delivered with the appropriate qualities of service.

Interoperability is assured through strict support for key RFCs and standards like Point to Point Protocol (PPP); Frame Relay encapsulation; and Data Link Switching (DLSw), the IBM-compatible standard for interoperability of SNA and NetBIOS over TCP/IP networks. Ascom Timeplex was one of the first companies to implement DLSw.

Standards-Based Management

Overall manageability of an ST-1000-based network is simplified by a host of remote control and management features including: downline loading of software, flash EPROM, upload/download of configuration parameter files, telnet and full SNMP SET support for all configurable parameters. Additionally, the ST-1000 and other members of the Ascom Timeplex product range can be managed from Ascom Timeplex's Element Management System, a comprehensive, graphical network management application compatible with HP OpenView.

Pricing and Availability

The Synchrony ST-1000 will be available through Ascom Timeplex's worldwide sales force in April, 1995. The ST-1000 chassis and controller starts at a base price of $20,500. The ST-1000 accepts all standard Synchrony ST-50 cards, as well as all Ascom Timeplex ER Routing Processor cards. These include a two-port Token Ring card for $8500, a four-port Ethernet card for $8500, a one-port FDDI card for $9500, a serial IRP card for $7000, a serial data card for $4000, a PBX server card for $9500 and a frame relay server card for $8000. An ATM card will be available later this year. A typical configuration for a collapsed backbone containing 44 Ethernet ports, one PBX server and frame relay switching costs $134,000, while a system comprising four Ethernet ports, a PBX server and 80 serial ports costs $97,500.

# # #