San Jose, California-based StrataCom Inc has unveiled AXIS, a network access component for its BPX wide area Asynchronous Transfer Mode switch (CI No 2,084). The offering is a 16-slot interface shelf – 10 available for user interfaces, six for common equipment and redundancy – that connects directly to StrataCom’s BPX via 34Mbps, 45Mbps and 155Mbps trunk interfaces. It is supported by a 640Mbps Asynchronous Mode cell bus and midplane architecture, and the company claims that AXIS concentrates and aggregates narrowband traffic for transport over wide area broadband Asynchronous Transfer Mode links, with all user traffic converted into 53-byte Asynchronous Mode cells using standard protocols, such as AAL5 for Frame Relay connections. Existing and emerging narrowband services said to be supported by the product include channelised and fractional Frame Relay, T1/E1 Asynchronous Mode UNI, User to Network Interface, T1 circuit emulation, Asynchronous Mode and Switched Multimegabit Data Service data exchange interfaces, and primary rate Integrated Services Digital Network. According to the company, a fully-configured AXIS shelf can support more than 1,200 users operating at 64Kbps, or 40 ports operating at T1/E1 speeds. On the management side, the company says the AXIS will support its ForeSight congestion management capabilities, as well as its OptiClass software, which provides the ability to support multiple classes of user traffic or multiple quality of service levels on a single switched network. StrataCom also claims that the AXIS will dramatically improve the BPX’s Frame Relay capabilities, enabling the switch to support three times as many Frame Relay connections as previously. One BPX switch with up to 16 integrated AXIS units is now capable of supporting more than 15,000 Frame Relay user connections operating at 64Kbps, says the company. Pricing for AXIS starts at $35,000 for a base system. A fully configured node, supporting both Frame Relay and Asynchronous Transfer Mode connections, will cost up to $335,000, depending upon configuration. It is planned to start shipping next quarter.
