After the fact: Applied Innovation takes post-switch approach to Internet traffic relief

According to a recent Bellcore study, about 30% of U.S. households will have Internet access service by 2000. Handling that traffic and offloading it from congested voice networks has spurred a small push among vendors to be first with an economical solution.

Not coincidentally, Bellcore is trying to bring a sense of order to the market, announcing that it will head a standards group to tackle the issue, which by itself could set off a full-fledged race. Indeed, in the coming months several vendors are expected to announce solutions that relieve Internet traffic congestion by routing data from the public network onto a separate data network after it hits the switch.

Applied Innovation already has a six- to 12-month lead, though, by bringing to market a remote access server designed specifically for telcos. The AI 4800 is the first in a series of data service access multiplexers designed to sit in the central office and offload data traffic from the public network.

In most previous approaches, vendors attempted to identify data traffic before it hit the switch through a digital loop carrier-based solution or through modem pooling.

However, telcos have had difficulty determining the exact location of the DLCs, and modem pooling doesn't provide the economies of scale they are looking for, according to Cory Grant, general manager of the access products group for AI. Two other options-bulking up capacity on the traditional voice network or waiting for widescale digital subscriber line deployment-are too expensive and time-consuming for a near-term solution, he added.

AI's solution combines modem pooling with SS7, which leads to a more economical approach because it's geared for the telco environment, not customer premises equipment, said Grant. Moreover, the system, which costs about $350 per port, uses a Transaction Language 1 messaging protocol familiar to carriers.

"This really is a telco-based solution that the telcos can manage," he said. "In a post-switch environment, we also get a lot of economies of scale that you don't see in other solutions."

AI is pushing telcos to focus offloading efforts on originating switches because they can catch much more data traffic. In addition, service providers will open up new applications to sell to Internet service providers by focusing on originating switches.

"The terminating switch is where the problem usually ends up, but it's at the originating switch that you offload because it's the beginning of the funnel," said Grant.

In its basic configuration, AI's approach uses one or more access shelves, each of which is hooked to a Class 5 switch through channelized T-1s or primary rate ISDNs. The system also uses trunk shelves, which provide connectivity to an asynchronous transfer mode backbone or a frame relay network. In higher-density applications, the solution can handle up to 192 modems.

The company already has performed lab trials with U S West in Boulder, Colo., and with SBC Communications in Austin, Texas.

According one analyst, however, the need for any solution that offloads Internet traffic from the voice network may dissolve into a political debate that has little to do with technology.

"You're going to continue having quite a bit of opposition from the ISPs, and anyone that feels they're going to have to pay for something that doesn't go in their network," said Mike Perez, an analyst with Frost & Sullivan.

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