Cisco's LightStream 100 ATM switch gains features for building large ATM nets, deploying virtual LANs.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 19, 1995--Cisco Systems is enhancing its LightStream 100 ATM switch with three new standards-based software functions that will help users build large meshed networks of ATM switches and effectively deploy virtual networks and a new generation of sophisticated network applications.

Available in August as part of the Cisco Internetwork Operating System (Cisco IOS) for ATM, the new features are Dynamic IISP and ILMI, which automatically set up connection paths and map addresses, respectively; and point-to-multipoint signaling, which maximizes bandwidth efficiency in broadcast applications.

Dynamic IISP: Standards-Based Path to ATM Meshed Nets

Dynamic IISP is a dynamic version of the ATM Forum standard Interim Inter-Switch Signaling Protocol, which has shipped with the LightStream 100 since September. Dynamic IISP will allow LightStream 100s to automatically establish connections and pass "reachability" data among themselves, eliminating the need for manual specification of connection paths. Traffic is dynamically rerouted around failed devices, maximizing network reliability.

"Dynamic IISP is a major step in migrating users to large, fault-tolerant ATM meshed networks based on the forthcoming PNNI (Private Network-to-Network Interface) Phase 1 standard," said Larry Lang, Cisco director of marketing for ATM products. "Our standards-based approach uses ATM Forum UNI 3.0 and 3.1 signaling protocols. We also employ a link-state protocol similar to that anticipated in PNNI Phase 1 to exchange topology information. This ensures that the LightStream 100 can interoperate immediately with other standards-compliant switches and network interfaces. And when PNNI is finalized, Cisco will upgrade users to the completed standard."

Point-to-Multipoint Signaling + ILMI: Foundation for LAN Emulation, VLANs

Support for ATM Forum standard point-to-multipoint signaling allows the LightStream 100 to automatically create unidirectional one-to-many switched virtual circuits rather than requiring multiple individual point-to-point SVCs. This significantly improves bandwidth usage in video broadcasts, for example, or in sophisticated client-server applications that involve simultaneous database updating.

The Interim Local Management Interface (ILMI), also an ATM Forum standard, enables an ATM end station (e.g., router, switch, network interface card) to register its network address automatically with an ATM switch. ILMI eliminates the need for network administrators to perform time-consuming manual address mapping.

Point-to-multipoint signaling and ILMI together form the foundation for the LAN Emulation (LANE) feature supported on Cisco workgroup switches and ATM routers; LANE enables higher-layer protocols and applications to run unmodified over ATM and permits the implementation of virtual LANs in ATM networks. With these capabilities the LightStream 100 can be used to set up a network backbone over which multiple ATM devices -- e.g., the Cisco 7000 router with AIP card (see accompanying release) and Catalyst 5000 switch -- can interoperate to create a switched network as described in the CiscoFusion architecture.

The LightStream 100 ATM Switch

The LightStream 100 high-performance modular workgroup/campus ATM switch offers 16 ATM interfaces; introduced as the HyperSwitch A100, it has been shipping since September 1994. Supported interfaces include 155-Mbps SONET/SDH OC3 over single- and multimode fiber, 155-Mbps STS3c over unshielded twisted pair, 45-Mbps DS3 and 34-Mbps E3 over coaxial cable, and 100-Mbps TAXI 4B/5B.

Cisco Systems, Inc. is the leading global supplier of enterprise networks, including routers, LAN and ATM switches, dial-up access servers and network management software. These products, integrated by the Cisco Internetwork Operating System (Cisco IOS) link geographically dispersed LANs, WANs and IBM networks. Cisco is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and in the U.S. is traded under the NASDAQ symbol CSCO.

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