US$2M Network to Connect CAAC Facilities in 26 Cities Across China
GUANGZHOU, China -- July 16, 1999 -- Cisco Systems, Inc., the leader in networking for the Internet, announced today that CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China) will consolidate its national wide-area ticket reservation networks to a single IP-based Cisco solution with the ALPS (Airline Product Set) feature set.
Designed to meet the unique operating requirements of the airline industry, ALPS is a set of solutions based on IOS (Internetwork Operating System) and optimised for the high transaction volumes typical in a reservation system. ALPS will be installed in 26 cities across China for CAAC Information Centre, the company responsible for building and maintaining CAAC's nationwide ticket reservation, cargo and passenger movement system.
CAAC, like virtually all airlines today, uses three separate parallel networks: SNA/Uniscope-based Airline Line Control (ALC), MVS for finance and administration, and UNIX for office administration. CAAC's ALC system is connected to the central system in Beijing using a legacy remote access protocol called P1024C.
Once installed on an array of Cisco 3640 routers, ALPS will eliminate the need for separate networks by consolidating all three onto a single IP structure based on Cisco IOS(R) software from end to end. In addition, using IOS as the underlying network fabric allows CAAC to take advantage of its quality of service, security, and network management features.
Thomas Lam, vice president, Enterprise Line of Business, Cisco Systems China, said: "ALPS is the only airline solution on the market that can combine remote access, host access, and an IP backbone into one integrated solution. By adopting ALPS, CAAC has managed to dramatically reduce costs by consolidating legacy serial protocols into a switched backbone WAN, eliminating many point-to-point serial connections.
"In addition, by moving to a standards-based solution, CAAC has future-proofed their network and prepared themselves to offer more value-added electronic commerce applications for the travel industry."
Yang Jun, general manager of CAAC Information Centre said: "Cisco is the IP leader in the market, and we believe they have the most advanced set of solutions available today for consolidating the 1024 protocol, used by traditional airlines, and the IP networks of the future. By integrating multiple applications on a single network, we have paved the way for developing web-based applications in the future."
About CAAC
CAAC is the government department in charge of civil aviation throughout China under the direct leadership of the State Council. Its responsibilities include the formulation of guidelines and policies, coordination of procurement of aircraft, supervision of flight safety and airworthiness, and management of civil flight routes, airports and flying schools.Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet.Cisco, Cisco IOS, Cisco Systems and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
