Hughes adds CO FRAD features >BY BETH SNYDER, Switching & Transmission Editor

Hughes Network Systems' IX family of switches, unveiled in November, is already getting a few new features. The IX500, a multiservice edge switch, now has the capability to offer and provision central office frame relay access device service, which also allows Systems Network Architecture users an easier migration to frame relay.

"Only 15% of frame relay traffic is SNA," said Neil Snyder, director of access products for Hughes. "By offering FRAD service from the central office, you eliminate customer premises equipment and some up-front costs. The solutions used today are dedicated-function FRADs.

The frame relay access features are targeted at carriers for provisioning and managing frame relay services.

The other IX family switch, the IX200, is being given added routing functionality for customer premises installation, allowing offerings such as voice-over-frame relay. International carriers are implementing successful voice-over-frame relay integration services, while "tier 2" carriers in the U.S. are showing increased interest, Snyder said.

In Hughes' first IX product announcement (Telephony, Nov. 18, 1996, page 12), the company said it would offer switched virtual circuits beginning in February. That timeline has not changed. The FRAD and routing upgrades will also be commercially available on the equipment next month.

"We're just broadening the breadth of the solution and extending the reach farther out into the network," Snyder said.