New Berd joins flock Net2Net analyzer to bring ATM capability to TTC's product line >BY CHRIS BUCHOLTZ, Intelligence & Software Editor

Telecommunications Techniques Corp. plans to quickly instill field devices with intelligent monitoring by adding a portable asynchronous transfer mode analyzer to its Fireberd product line. The addition is a result of TTC's partnership with Net2Net Corp., Hudson, Mass.

The two companies, which will unveil the Fireberd ATM Analyzer at the ComNet show in Washington this week, have announced a three-year agreement to develop and market ATM test solutions.

TTC will market and sell Net2Net's CellBlaster LT ATM Analyzer as the Fireberd ATM Analyzer, and the two sides will work to develop future ATM test products, officials from both companies said.

"We've had a strong product for frame relay analysis and simultaneous LAN/WAN analysis," said David Holly, vice president of marketing for Germantown, Md.-based TTC. "What wasn't there was ATM testing, so this definitely helps address one of the needs we saw for the Fireberd line.

By filling a gap in its strategy to provide testing tools for broadband networks, TTC is hoping to get a head start on the "ATM rush," said Holly. "The carriers are moving heavily toward protocol analysis, and the people conducting this testing are generally more mainstream than in the past, so there's going to be an increased need for devices that can transmit data in a useful form back to management centers," Holly said.

The 4-lb., laptop-sized device can capture ATM cell data at rates up to OC-3. The unit's small size and remote capabilities make it ideal for monitoring potential trouble spots, said Norm Meisner, vice president of worldwide sales at Net2Net.

"It's surprising how important that form factor is," Meisner said. "We initially had the same functions in a 22-pound, schlep-along device, and there just wasn't much interest."