May 2000

BY CHRIS DONNER

I had the rather unusual experience of growing up in all three of these environments, and some people would say that I was fortunate to have such diverse experiences. And I agree, in retrospect. But when it was happening, it was certainly no walk through the village. Instead, I had to learn the rules and expectations of each of these environments, and remember them as I moved between them at various stages of my life. The mean streets of the city were different than the back roads of the country, but they were no less trying, especially to an adolescent struggling to make sense of the world. More often than I would have liked, I was tested and had to prove that I could "make it" in the particular environment I was in.

And growing up is exactly what the telecommunications world is trying to do. Sure, the PSTN has existed in some form for over 100 years. But I don't think it's going to far to compare the initial bulk of those years to human infancy, while the past 20 years or so have been the PSTN's childhood. And now it's ready for adolescence.

But the PSTN and the next-gen networks growing up around it face far meaner streets and more distant back roads than any of us ever did growing up. The public network aspires to reach all corners of the globe, from the crushing density of Mexico City or Japan to the open spaces of New Zealand or Siberia. In order to realize these aspirations, the public network must also learn the rules and expectations, not of a few locales but of hundreds of countries and their respective telecom infrastructures.

Here in the United States, the Telecom Act of 1996 has made thousands of developers and service providers eager to prove their abilities with these multi-faceted environments. And to do so, they need to be tested. In the same way that everything intending to survive, in fact, to flourish, must be tested. Again and again, until network and voice equipment no longer comes in boxes labeled "some integration required." Adulthood lies ahead, and with creative minds, stringent testing, and a bit of luck, it moves closer every day.
--Chris Donner

Enabling Technologies & Development News

• Logica Proves Interoperability With Nortel
• TAS Selected For Agilent W-CDMA RF Test
• Rhythms Selects Micromuse's NETCOOL To Monitor DSL Network
• Analogic Delivers Linux Software VoIP Developers' Kits
• QUALCOMM Intros 3G CDMA 1xMC Test Solution
• RADVision Announces V2.6 Of H.323 Toolkit
• Interactive Intelligence, eircom Sign Agreement
• Hammer's VoIP 2.0 Released
• Telebyte Intros DSL Loop Simulator
• Clairvoyant Establishes Relationship With Perite.com
• Flexion Launches Authorized Resellers Program
• Netcom Intros Voice/ Data And Gigabit Testing Equipment
• Pinacor Provides XML Order Mgmt For Resellers

Logica Proves Interoperability With Nortel
Logica has announced that its Telepath OTAP (over-the-air platform) has successfully completed the Nortel Networks Wireless Interoperability Testing program. The Telepath OTAP is a tool for CDMA an TDMA networks, allowing over-the-air provisioning of handsets in Short Message format. Telepath OTAP is suitable for all networks, including WAP, GPRS, and 3G.
No. 509, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

TAS Selected For Agilent W-CDMA RF Test
Telecom Analysis Systems (TAS) will provide its WCDMA-LAB test system in conjunction with equipment from Agilent Technologies for a W-CDMA RF performance test system. The W-CDMA Mobile Station Measurement System uses test methods in accordance with the W-CDMA Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) test standards. This system evaluates both the receiver and transmitter performance of handsets based on W-CDMA technology. TAS has also enhanced the capabilities of its TAS 4500 FLEX5 RF Channel Emulator with the addition of a powerful dynamic channel modeling feature. FLEX5's 3GPDP (power-delay profile) emulation mode can be programmed to provide a wide range of time-varying RF channel profiles.
No. 510, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

Rhythms Selects Micromuse's NETCOOL To Monitor DSL Network
Micromuse's NETCOOL suite has been selected to provide real-time monitoring of Rhythms NetConnections' high-speed DSL services. Rhythms provides managed high-speed network services for business and home use. The multiphase implementation plan uses Rhythms' existing fault determination structure and augments it with a highly distributed and scalable architecture, as well as providing the high availability presentation/correlation interface using NETCOOL/OMNIbus. NETCOOL/OMNIbus collates fault information and events from Rhythms' network, and adds key management information such as customer ID, locations, and service level determination. Then Rhythms' operators can associate events collected from the network with threats to the availability of specific services.
No. 511, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

Analogic Delivers Linux Software VoIP Developers' Kits
Analogic Corporation has announced Linux versions of its TAP-800 SDK for use with its TAP-800 family of DSP resource cards, which are integrated into high-performance VoIP applications around the world. The new SDK works with both the PCI-based TAP-804 and -806 and the CompactPCI-based TAP-810 cards. "Linux is a great choice for many reasons," said Chappell Cory, VP and GM of Analogic's Computer Design and Applications Division. "The system's flexibility and performance create an ideal fit with the high-performance VoIP boards we design and manufacture."
No. 512, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

QUALCOMM Intros 3G CDMA 1xMC Test Solution
QUALCOMM has announced a complete test solution for 3G CDMA 1x multi-carrier (MC) networks that is compliant with the 3G standard as specified by the ITU. The solution includes a 1xMC test phone, a dual-port data cable, and the QCTest CDMA Air Interface Tester (CAIT). "QUALCOMM's complete 1x test solution will enable carriers and infrastructure manufacturers to quickly deploy and optimize their 3G CDMA 1xMC networks," said Gina Lombardi, VP of test and deployment products for QUALCOMM.
No. 513, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

RADVision Announces V2.6 Of H.323 Toolkit
RADVision has announced the availability of version 2.6 of its H.323 protocol toolkit, optimized for demanding carrier-grade applications and embedded systems. RADVision's architecture and abstract API provide an efficient implementation that addresses the design requirements for products including chipsets, endpoints, and infrastructure devices. The protocol stack includes software modules that perform all the functions needed to establish real-time voice, video, and data over IP networks. Version 2.6 will be available for a variety of operating systems including pSOS, VxWorks, Windows 98/NT/2000, Solaris Sparc, Alpha, and Linux.
No. 514, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

Interactive Intelligence, eircom Sign Agreement
Interactive Intelligence has announced a reseller agreement that will allow eircom (formerly Telecom Eireann), a telecom provider in Ireland, to sell, market, and support the Enterprise Interaction Center software solution.
No. 515, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

Hammer's VoIP 2.0 Released
Hammer has announced version 2.0 of their VoIP Test System (VoIPTS), designed for carrier-class gateways, integrating up to 480 ports of full-coverage ITU PSQM analysis with SS7, ISDN, and fax in a single, integrated test platform.
No. 516, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

Telebyte Intros DSL Loop Simulator
Telebyte has introduced the Model 454 Local Loop Simulator, a compact laboratory and production test unit that precisely simulates the frequency response of the local loop used by telcos. The unit presents an accurate simulation of both the amplitude and propagation delay characteristics of a single 26 AWG (0.4mm) telephone pair at frequencies extending from DC up to 1.5 MHz, precisely the range of interest for ADSL technology. "This unit is a welcome solution to the problem of testing the wide variety of ADSL modems that are being manufactured," stated Telebyte president Michael Breneisen. "Model 454 delivers a low cost, a convenient form factor, and is extremely accurate in simulating local loop characteristics."
No. 517, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

Clairvoyant Establishes Relationship With Perite.com
Perite.com, a UK-based distributor of Internet technology, will resell and distribute Clairvoyant's family of Web-based products, ForeCAST Resource Manager, which helps managers determine when they need to add network resources to ensure sufficient capacity.
No. 518, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

Flexion Launches Authorized Resellers Program
Flexion Systems has launched the Flexion BusinessGuardian Authorized Reseller Program to enhance its managed communication solution for growing businesses. The network provides resellers with advice and support from Flexion's sales team, access to marketing programs, and a full schedule of training courses.
No. 519, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

Netcom Intros Voice/ Data And Gigabit Testing Equipment
Netcom Systems has announced two new products for network testing and management: SmartVoIPQoS and the GX-1420B. SmartVoIPQoS is a testing application designed to measure the quality, performance, and reliability of VoIP when carried over policy-based networks. SmartVoIPQoS supports testing for all applicable VoIP standards, provides ITU-T P.861 PSQM voice quality scoring, and it supports standard QoS schemes including DiffServ and IP/TOS precedence per flow. The GX-1420B is Netcom's new full duplex gigabit and 100 Mbps Ethernet testing tool, which also supports IP checksum generation and analysis, ARPing, PINGing, and VLAN tagging. Both the GX-1420B and the SmartVoIPQoS are designed to integrate with Netcom's SmartBits.
No. 520, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

Pinacor Provides XML Order Mgmt For Resellers
Pinacor has announced Pinacor Connect, a seamless XML-based order management platform for resellers that provides a back-end systems integration platform, creating a direct Internet link between Pinacor and its resellers for product pricing, availability, status, and order placement.
No. 521, www.comsolmag.com/freeinfo

Back in September 1999, TMC Labs reviewed Gordon Kapes' System 930 Telephony Simulator for ISDN PRI and T1 line simulation. It won our Editors' Choice award, and Gordon Kapes also graciously allowed TMC Labs to keep the System 930 in-house, so that it could join our cause and facilitate the review of other products. I thought it would be a good product to revisit now, about 8 months later, and I recently had some time to sit down and explore the interface and run through some of the basic features.

First of all, the System 930 can emulate the network or the user side of a T1 or ISDN PRI network, which makes it useful for both the developer testing products in the lab and for the service provider looking to test a product before deploying it in their live network. The System 930 has two 1.544 Mbps digital interfaces, and these interfaces can be split between network side and user side, allowing for the sending of a call from one interface to another. This allows for in-house simulation of the PSTN or a VPN, and the System 930 provides a view of the signaling inbound hex and binary bits and outbound binary bits.

One interesting feature of the System 930 is that it includes an internal bulk call generator, complete with the ability to program calling scripts that allow the system to emulate real-world events, such as playing DTMF tones into an IVR system or playing stored messages once the call has been completed. When setting up the call generator, there are two interface screens, one for each of the digital interfaces into the unit. Variables on these screens include number of active calls, time between calls (in seconds), call start interval (in milliseconds), called number, mode (rolling or burst, meaning keep making calls, or wait until current calls have terminated before making new calls), setup time limit, and connect action. There is similar capability with a similar screen for the analog ports.

I'm not a labs technician, but overall I found using the System 930 fairly comfortable. The interface for programming the System 930 and accessing its status displays is a personal computer or terminal emulating VT100. It's not elegant, but it's extremely practical and functional, and anyone familiar with a VT100 emulator screen should be comfortable fairly quickly. ASCII-format data can be exchanged between the System 930 and a remote terminal.

To cover all of the features of the System 930 would require more space than is available here, and readers looking for a more exhaustive review should consult the piece in the September issue. However, even just a quick look at this product reveals its functionality and versatility.