StrataCom Inc, Campbell, California and Cisco Systems Inc, Menlo Park, have announced a jointly-developed Frame Relay enhancement and are hoping to get it adopted as a standard. It enables users to prioritise transmission of delay-sensitive traffic. Called Frame Relay Priority, the addition is to be made available early next year to users of Cisco routers and StrataCom’s IPX FastPacket networking switch. The system gives a higher priority to interactive protocols such as IBM SNA or DEC LAT traffic. It does this by assigning priorities at the cell switch on a per permanent virtual circuit basis: the user specifies which virtual circuits should take precedence over others: this traffic is transmitted while less urgent data is buffered until it too can be sent. Where SNA traffic shares a cell switch port with other data, similar prioritisation takes place at the router. The two are submitting the management specifications of the technology to the Frame Relay Forum for consideration as a standard, but are not waiting for its decision before they implement it. They are also offering the technology to other vendors – both for evaluation and adoption, while Frame Relay Forum members look at it.
