SAN JOSE, Calif., June 19, 1995 -- Cisco Systems today announced a packageof software capabilities that will enable its Asynchronous Transfer Mode(ATM) platforms to be used in building larger, easier-to-deploy ATMnetworks that support emerging technologies such as virtualnetworking, videoconferencing and multimedia.
Available in August as part of the Cisco InternetworkOperating System(Cisco IOS(tm)) for ATM, the new software features will enhance the CiscoLightStream100 and LightStream 2020ATM switches and the Cisco7000 router's ATM Interface Processor(AIP).
Larry Lang, Cisco marketing director for ATM products, said, "RealizingATM's promise of unprecedented performance and scalable bandwidth requiresnot only cell-switching hardware, but a highly sophisticated softwareinfrastructure to link ATM switches into a network that can interoperatewith already installed LANs and WANs. The Cisco IOS now provides thatinfrastructure across the entire CiscoFusion architecturefor switchedinternetworks, encompassing both routers and LAN and ATM switches.
"The new capabilities enhance what is already the only complete end-to-endATM solution from any vendor," Lang added. "Cisco provides a single sourcefor ATM products starting at the network backbone, including the workgroupand the router, and even bringing ATM to desktop 'power users.'"
New features for the Cisco 7000 AIP card include LAN Emulation(LANE),which allows higher-layer protocols and applications to run unmodified overATM; point-to-multipointsignaling, which eliminates the needfor individual circuits in broadcast applications such as multimedia; andsupport for RFC 1577, which maximizes the operation of IP (the protocolwidely used on the Internet and in private networks) over ATM.
New features for the LightStream 100 modular workgroup/campus ATM switchinclude point-to-multipoint signaling; and DynamicIISP (InterimInter-Switch Signaling Protocol) and ILMI (Interim Local ManagementInterface), which enable the switch to automatically set up connectionpaths and map addresses, rather than requiring that the networkadministrator perform these tasks manually.
New features for the LightStream 2020 enterprise ATM backbone switchinclude high performance multicast service utilizing point-to-multipointconnections; application-specific Quality ofService, which extends ATMbandwidth-allocation functions to Ethernet and FDDI networks; T1/E1 circuitemulation, which permits the connection of PBX, TDM and video conferencingacross an ATM network using constant bit-rate services; and a frame relaynetwork node interface, which allows the LightStream 2020 to connect toother vendors' frame relay switches. Also being introduced is an eight-portT3/E3 card which boosts the 2020's port density and provides increasedperformance to "line speed" (45 or 34 Mbps).
Posted: Jun 19 10:18:46 1995
