NetEdge Systems International BV has introduced the ATM Connect, which it claims is the first Asynchronous Transfer Mode router to connect Ethernet, Token Ring and Fibre Distributed Data Interface local area networks to Asynchronous Mode servers and workstations through Asynchronous Mode switches. The company calls the product an ‘edge’ router as it operates at the edge of the local area network and Asynchronous Mode network in order intelligently to direct data traffic to designated network access points. According to the company, which is the international operations arm of Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based NetEdge Systems Inc, the product squeezes 25Mb of actual throughput out of the OC-3 UNI Asynchronous Transfer Mode interface’s theoretical specification of 30Mb, against the industry norm of up to 12Mb. This is achieved by employing a cell-to-packet firewall to isolate the router engine board from Asynchronous Mode cells and, in conjunction with Asynchronous Mode cell segmentation and reassembly, by using asymmetrical multi-RISC processors – no word on which RISC is used, shared memory and an optimised pipelined data path. This design, combined with an in-built Asynchronous Mode digital services/channel services units to provide a high-speed internal bus path to the cell segmentation and reassembly function, increases performance and reduces latency, claims the company. In terms of legacy local area network connections, the product has four Ethernet and four point-to-point interfaces, and each router can be configured with up to four interface modules with one in each of its four expansion slots. With the Asynchronous Transfer Mode module in one expansion slot, the three other modules can provide additional connections for up to 12 extra Ethernet, Token Ring or Fibre Distributed Data Interface ports, says the company. It currently supports Asynchronous Mode OC-3, T-3 and TAXI UNI, with support for E-3 UNI expected next quarter. On the call signalling front it is said to support Fore Systems Inc’s SPANS protocol, as well as Per manent Virtual Circuits. Future releases will supp ort the Q.2931 standard and work with any Q.2931-compa tible switch. ATM Connect is out now at from $20,000.
