Kanata, Ottawa-based Newbridge Networks Corp has added Frame Relay capabilities to its Asynchronous Transfer Mode 36170 MainStreet ATMnet Backbone Switch, first unveiled in May 1994 (CI No 2,407). The company claims that, with a system that scales to more than 6000 T1/E1 interfaces per system, the offering now becomes one of the largest Frame Relay switches available on the market, enabling service providers and large corporate users to construct multi-million port Frame Relay networks. The Frame Relay support on the switch includes fully standards-compliant User-Network Interface, UNI, Network-Node Interface, NNI, and Broadband Inter-Carrier Interface, B-ICI, said the company. The Frame Relay interfaces supported include multi-port channelised and unchannelised T1/E1, said the firm. In addition, the switch will support both network interworking and service interworking between Frame Relay and Asynchronous Transfer Mode on a single, consolidated system, which incorporates a non-blocking broadcast matrix architecture, with a switching capacity of 12.8Gbps, output buffer control, and support for interfaces from T1/E1 to OC-12/STM-4, said Newbridge. On the management side, the offering is said to be fully managed by the Newbridge 4602/46020 MainStreet network management systems, offering integration with other Newbridge network products; point and click configuration; and collection of billing information and other statistics. Field trials of Frame Relay on the switch will begin in next quarter, with general availability planned in the first quarter of 1996. No pricing details yet.
