Crammed with DSPs, 3Com/U.S. Robotics introduce first joint product

3Com unveiled its next generation network remote access equipment last week, relying on digital signal processor technology to provide higher port density and future flexibility. The remote access product - 3Com's first offering since its merger with U.S. Robotics - is based on U.S. Robotics' Total Control systems already on the market.

The Total Control HiPer Access system increases port density by seven times - from 48 calls supported today to 336 with the new generation. Density is gained by the addition of two new cards, the HiPer DSP card and the HiPer Access Router card. The DSP card employs a unique technique of using one DSP chip to support two modems, allowing each card to handle 24 calls with up to 14 cards per system. Another feature on the DSP card is the ability to handle analog modem calls (including support for U.S. Robotics' x2 56 kb/s technology), ISDN, multimedia and voice calls from a single platform.

Many companies are now pushing the DSP advantage, according to Dan Merriman, vice president with Giga Information Services in Cambridge, Mass. With software-flexible DSPs, companies can shrink the size of the boxes and manage them more easily, he said.

"The other major advantage that is enabled by DSP technology is the ability to put on more and more capabilities - like encryption, compression and authentication - as companies move to multimedia," Merriman said.

"The whole rollout of DSP technology and the attempts to get better port density comes down to being able to put more in a smaller space and ultimately driving down the cost per port," said Kitty Weldon, analyst with The Yankee Group, Boston.

The second card 3Com is adding with the next generation Total Control system is the HiPer Access Router card. The card replaces the network server card, providing power and managing the routing functions for the many new ports added by the DSP cards. It uses U.S. Robotics' own routing code.

Users with current Total Control products can switch out the quad modem cards with DSP cards as needed, said Walt Zdunek, 3Com's senior product marketing manager for Total Control. Once the user grows above 96 ports, an Access Router card must also be added, he said. The software upgrade needed for the existing product will be available mid-August, the same time as the DSP cards, and it will be distributed to customers through existing service contracts. The DSP card will carry a list price of $11,500 including the T-1 interface. The router card will be available shortly after the DSP card in early September, Zdunek said, and is priced at $9995, including Ethernet interfaces.

Does its first remote access product foreshadow the direction of the newly merged 3Com? Weldon said it makes sense that the first product introduced under the single umbrella would come from the U.S. Robotics side. Although 3Com has had some success with remote access, Robotics really did it better, especially in the service provider market this new product targets.

By adding DSP technology now, 3Com is well-positioned to take a lead in future service and feature capabilities like encryption and compression, Merriman said.

3Com officials agreed and said they plan to capitalize on that position. Zdunek said that by using DSP technology just like it did with x2, 3Com will continue moving customers to future applications of multimedia, voice over Internet protocol, video, data and encryption.

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