Exhibitors push high-speed access

As most industry watchers know by now, no blockbuster announcements hit Supercomm '98. Yet just beneath the surface, vendors maintained a steady drumbeat of emerging network elements of the next century: Internet protocol, digital subscriber line services and on the transport side, wavelength division multiplexing.

Said one observer, "I think you had to have DSL or WDM somewhere on your booth to get in."

>From the access perspective, DSL garnered most of the attention. Access vendors focused on cementing their positions by showcasing previously announced technologies or, in some cases, announcing new relationships or product improvements. They demonstrated what they can deliver in terms of speed, port density and interoperability. And they offered possibilities.

An insatiable need for speed Teledata's DCS-20T is established in international markets but is not quite ready for release in the United States, said Kermit Ross, president of Teledata's North American operation.

The small device will have a big impact in the digital loop carrier market when it hits, Ross said. "It's about the size of a microwave, compared with [the size of] a refrigerator for earlier generation products," he said, adding that the DCS-20T can accommodate up to 16 standard lines on a single card and 480 subscriber lines in a single box. "We build products 16 lines at a time rather than four or six."

The device features built-in transport cards and power supply cards. It works with fiber optic, T-1 on copper, high bit-rate DSL on copper and T-1 on digital microwave transport interfaces, and it auto-configures to the selected interface and other terminals on the network. The device runs self-diagnostics and alarms to prevent service interruptions.

"We're trying to put in place a platform that can serve a mix of broadband and narrowband services on the same platform," Ross said. "We've taken a great deal of care to make sure our product is not a roadblock." Teledata has established a relationship with Sprint North Supply as a reseller to help move the DCS-20T into the U.S. carrier market.

Ross touted Teledata's ability to provide remote access for management and service. "You can manage it from halfway around the world" by dialing into the network, he said.

The company also has devised FlashQuote, a system that lets prospective buyers answer a questionnaire and receive an immediate price quote based on their responses. Teledata is working to make FlashQuote available via the Sprint North Supply Web site.

Among the more established vendors, Diamond Lane Communications was busy with announcements of new products and a new partner.

Diamond Lane announced an interoperability and joint marketing agreement with 3Com Corp., adding it to the list of customer premises equipment vendors whose products will work with Diamond Lane's Speedlink DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM). Under the agreement, Diamond Lane will reference-sell and distribute 3Com's asymmetrical DSL ITU G.dmt products. Service providers will be able to buy the equipment through Diamond Lane or through 3Com's direct sales channels.

"We're seeing the validation of the DSL opportunity in the last year," said Jerry Parrick, Diamond Lane's chairman and CEO. "There's a tremendous amount of interest, and we're beginning to see some tangible activity."

Diamond Lane also exhibited a mock-up of the DMT8 remote access module that will help carriers extend the reach of DSL services. The company refers to the devices as pizza boxes because of their size and shape.

"You could use [asymmetrical] DSL to connect to a router and serve a whole office with a pizza box," Parrick said. "It could be a bridge to larger modules."

Texas Instruments announced that Siemens Telecom Networks will use TI's TNETD2000 ADSL chipset in its Xpress Link DSLAM, part of its Access Networks equipment line. The chipset is fully programmable and will let Siemens adapt its platform as new standards, technologies and interoperability programs emerge. Those will include software downloads for G.lite and G.dmt once standards are completed.

Not all DSL While work progresses to make ADSL user-friendly, Microsoft moved quickly to meet user demand for high-speed access by endorsing Northern Telecom's 1-Meg Modem. The companies announced that they will jointly market consumer applications that use the modem and Microsoft's products, such as the Windows NT Server operating system.

The plug-and-play 1-Meg Modem, launched in October 1997, allows simultaneous voice and data transmission. Although it requires a line card change in the central office, it can be installed without home rewiring or truck rolls to install a voice/data splitter.

Nortel also announced that it will focus its 1-Meg Modem marketing efforts in major cities that have National Hockey League teams and will sponsor demonstrations of telecom customer solutions at NHL games during the 1998-1999 season.

Eastern Research demonstrated a new CSU/DSU for frame relay networks. Called the FrameAxxess 9000, the family of frame-aware CSU/DSUs performs monitoring and traffic analysis on frame relay networks. The device can monitor up to 64 data link connection identifiers, with users setting preferences for measurements taken and report generation frequency via an HTML Web interface.

"It plays into the whole [service level agreement]," said Louis DeFonzo, senior product manager at Eastern Research. "Users can see what they're using. They can see if they're getting or exceeding their committed information rate."

Eastern Research also demonstrated its DNX integrated access digital cross-connect, which supports as many as 44 WAN ports and soon will be able to support up to 88 T-1/E-1 cards. The DNX can be used in enterprise or carrier applications, but carriers have a better understanding of the need for the product, said DeFonzo.

"It helps save port density in larger [digital cross-connects]," he said. "By putting in this platform, you can multiplex all the T-1s in [to larger digital cross-connects]. It eliminates the need for extra cards and extra lease space."

Atmosphere Networks demonstrated its FSN 1200 full service node Sonet add/drop multiplexer. The FSN 1200 uses asynchronous transfer mode rather than time division multiplexing (TDM) as the multiplexing element on the Sonet ring, allowing carriers to allocate the entire Sonet bandwidth however they want. That allows greater flexibility in SLAs because carriers can guarantee bandwidth and allow statistical gain above that level for irregular bursts. By using ATM to groom the traffic on the ring before it goes to a switch, carriers can get more use out of the switch.

Atmosphere also demonstrated its NTU 300, a network termination unit that serves as a smart jack to connect end users to FSN 1200 sites, ATM switches or conventional Sonet equipment. It can provide T-1 or Ethernet connections at the customer side so customers don't have to change interfaces to get ATM-based enhanced services.

The vendor featured the Cumulus element and connection manager for the FSN and NTU products. The platform runs on HP OpenView and can connect to carriers' operations support systems.

Terabit switch router vendor NetCore was on hand to show how its Everest platform is put together. The company didn't have a working demonstration but believed it was important to be at the show.

"Our goal was to get the product out there-to make ourselves visible to potential customers and OEM partners," said Netcore President Ashraf Dahod.

Dahod, who was attending his first Supercomm, said he was surprised that the show was more productive than Networld+Interop. That's because the company's target market-service providers' business and management people-were there in force.

RedBack Networks demonstrated its SMS 1000 subscriber management system, an access concentrator designed specifically for DSL deployments. The SMS 1000 lets carriers connect thousands of DSL subscribers to IP networks through a single device. The device lets carriers get maximum use out of a small number of connections, said Larry Blair, RedBack's vice president of marketing.

"If a service provider puts in RedBack rather than sell the connection once, [the service provider] gets to sell it many times," he said.RedBack also announced that it is working with 3Com on interoperability between the SMS 1000 and 3Com's DSL equipment, and that 3Com has signed a worldwide distribution agreement for the SMS 1000. In addition, Ameritech will deploy the RedBack platform as part of its DSL offering.

Forging new relationships CPE vendor Efficient Networks announced new relationships at Supercomm. Ericsson will OEM Efficient's equipment in its DSL solutions and Newbridge Networks will work with Efficient on interoperability between their equipment.

The key at this stage is expanding the company's connections to CO vendors, said Peter Bourne, product marketing director for Efficient.

"Building on that [foundation of CO partners] covers different facets of vertical and international markets," he said. Efficient demonstrated interoperability with Ericsson by running lines between their booths. "Establishing proof points builds the industry as a whole," he said. "We're here to make ourselves known as a CPE vendor for DSL in broad markets."

Paradyne focused on its Hotwire DSL and MVL product lines. The MVL line offers something unique in the world of high-speed copper access, said Ron Stein, Paradyne's DSL marketing director. The MVL chip is cheaper to build because it's off-the-shelf, and it allows greater modem densities without creating heat dissipation problems because it uses a smaller code set than typical DSL chips. Paradyne is also increasing DSLAM density using MVL, accommodating 16 ports in the same space that some DSLAMs fit four.

Paradyne also showcased its FrameSaver service level verifier. The FrameSaver, built in tandem with NetScout Systems to monitor frame relay services, lets customers and service providers get detailed reports on service level use and delivery. The company also showcased new additions to its CSU/DSU product family.

"We're an access company, not simply DSL," Stein said.

Alcatel was on hand with its DSL solution. The company's R3.0 Alcatel DSLAM was an impetus for the show's DSL focus, said Jay Fausch, senior marketing and business development director.

Yet new CPE products were a critical part of Alcatel's booth. In addition to interoperability agreements with 3Com and others, Alcatel demonstrated a single PCI-based internal card combining a V.90 modem and an ADSL modem compatible with the second version of T1.413. With the modem, users could send and receive faxes and use other analog modem services while surfing the Internet at ADSL speeds. The board will upgrade to the Lite mode of operation that the Universal ADSL Working Group will define and to the final ITU standard for G.Lite. The prototype board was designed in partnership with Compaq Computer Corp. and will be built into new computers going to the retail market.

"Everybody who buys a new computer will have an ADSL-capable modem," Fausch said. "We're starting to see a lot of pieces put in place for large-scale deployment of DSL."

Alcatel also showed its 1630 Sonet multiplexer, which the company is targeting at newer networks and carriers. "You bolt it on a wall, and it's ready to go," said Bernie Assa, product marketing manager. "These [newer] carriers are trying to move fast."

Alcatel is rounding out its Sonet access family by adding voice and data interfaces up to OC-48 (2.4 Gb/s) for loop environments. The OC-48 interfaces, which will be interchangeable with the already deployed OC-3 (155.5 Mb/s) and OC-12 (622 Mb/s) interfaces, will be available later this year.

Bell Atlantic's plan to offer DSL services to 2 million homes this year and 5 million to 10 million next year is reason for DSL vendors-and customers awaiting high-speed services-to be optimistic, said J.W. Nelson, Westell's president and chief operating officer. "What the market has needed is deployments."

Interactive's the thing Westell showed how its products interact with those of other vendors. That effort included a connection to the Lucent Technologies booth for a DSL video demonstration.

Adtran, which is supplying its Total Access shelf as part of a Westell solution, displayed its 239 HDSL Range Extender at the show. The HRE itself isn't new, but the so-called form factor is.

"The goal is to get the HRE to fit in anybody's housing," said Keith Atwell, xDSL line manger for Adtran.

Most range extenders are dual-slot, meaning one such device takes up two slots in a housing. But the 239 is a one-slot design and can extend the range of HDSL to 36,000 feet while still maintaining Bellcore voltage safety criteria.

Because HDSL is an element of fractional T-1 service, it's crucial for carriers to be able to better use it, Atwell explained. The 239 HRE offers carriers more range extenders in the same space while reducing power consumption to alleviate heat dissipation concerns.

3Com Corp. had a full plate of initiatives. The company is migrating from its carrierless amplitude/phase modulation-based DSL products, which it has been shipping for about a year, to discrete multitone-based products, including an ADSL router, ADSL PCI card and an ADSL USB modem, said Laura Howard, vice president for xDSL marketing and business development.

The company is targeting key areas for DSL, said Rick Edson, senior vice president for new business initiatives at 3Com. First is interoperability. "When you buy [an analog] modem today, you don't worry about what [brand of device] you're dialing into," he said.

Second is platforms. DSL is being deployed through line card voice switches, dedicated DSLAMs, multiservice platforms and DLCs. Although the majority of the market likely will be served through DLCs, it's important for 3Com's equipment to be compatible with all methods, rather than wait for final standards, he said.

"From a consumer standpoint, it's irrelevant that there is no standard," he said. "[Making equipment] easy to upgrade as the standards advance allows carriers to deploy any central office equipment without worrying about the CPE."

3Com's strategy is to channel CPE sales through retail outlets rather than through carriers.

"It's attractive for service providers not to have to invest in the CPE," Howard said.

It's much less likely that customers will drop the service if they've invested in a modem, a fact that will help boost deployment, Edson said. 3Com's focus now is on helping achieve mass deployment.

Symmetrical DSL vendor Copper Mountain Networks announced a partnership with Netopia that puts Copper Mountain's SDSL DSLAM technology into a Netopia router. Copper Mountain is selling it in the carrier space as the Copper Rocket 301. Netopia will sell the device under the Netopia banner but target Internet service providers and value-added resellers. The device is designed to provide small and medium-sized offices shared, simultaneous connections at 128 kb/s to 1.544 Mb/s over copper lines.

"We see Netopia working with the ISPs as creating an end user pull," said John Reister, product marketing director for Copper Mountain.

Lucent and Ericsson were not to be left out of the DSL picture.

Lucent demonstrated DSL capabilities, particularly a joint solution using Vina Technologies' Multiservice

T-1 Integrator and Lucent's SLC-2000 Access System. The solution lets users combine voice and data traffic on a single line.

Competitive carriers are asking for integrated solutions such as the SLC ConnectReach, said Robert Barry, a member of Lucent's access business management team.

"Vina brings a compact box, Lucent brings a multiservice platform and the connection feeds back to the central office," Barry said.

Ericsson introduced its AXI 510, the first in a family of edge routers. The 510 is designed for use with Ericsson's ADSL DSLAM and modem to build end-to-end ADSL IP networks.

The new router allows ADSL subscribers to change their ISPs without the service provider getting involved, said Kurt Krueger, Ericsson's deputy director of product planning and network management for xDSL network systems. Rather than the service provider having to reroute the ADSL connection, the 510 allows end users to change their dial-up number to access a new ISP. The carrier issues the telephone numbers, and the 510 uses those numbers and PPTP tunneling to direct connections to the correct ISPs.

Like other vendors, Ericsson is working to open its DSL technology to work with other vendors' equipment, including the agreement with Efficient Networks.

The proliferation of partnerships signals that DSL and the equipment that will deliver it capably to the network are truly moving forward. The pace must play itself out.