Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based AdvanceNet Systems Inc will enter the Asynchronous Transfer Mode software business with a family of products providing Asynchronous Mode local area network emulation and native Asynchronous Mode application programming interfaces for Windows NT or Windows95. Win_ATM Lite is an Asynchronous Mode protocol stack for the two operating systems that implements the ATM Forum recommendations for signalling, local area network emulation client, and native Asynchronous Mode services. Future applications will be supported via the Winsock 2 application programming interface, said the company. In addition, Win_ATM Lite provides a kernel-level interface for traditional transport protocol stack vendors wishing to support Asynchronous Mode. Win_ATM Lite will be marketed to Network Interface Card vendors, which can bundle it with their hardware. Pricing is a one-time licence fee of $100,000 for the Windows NT version, and $100,000 for the Windows95 version. Optional service agreements are also available. Availability is planned for the first quarter of 1996. The SmartServer LAN Emulation server is a software program for Windows NT which is said to implement ATM Forum recommendations for the LAN Emulation Server and Broadcast, and Unknown Server LAN emulation services. It features intelligent message forwarding, which is said to reduce the load on both the Asynchronous Mode network and the local area network emulation clients. Up to 1,000 local area network emulation clients per emulated local network are supported. SmartServer is licensed by the number of local network emulation clients sharing an emulated local net. Entry pricing is $500 for 10 clients, rising to $25,000 for 1,000 clients. Availability of the Ethernet version is planned for the first quarter of 1996, with the Token Ring version following in the second quarter.
