Harris & Jeffries adds Frame Relay-To-ATM Service Interworking to its Soft-ATM product line; Addition of FRF.8 feature provides platform-independent, portable code to simplify FR-ATM Interworking.DEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 1996--Harris & Jeffries, Inc. (H&J) announced today a software extension, Soft-ATM. Frame Relay FRF FRF The ISO 4217 currency code for the French Franc. .8, that enables frame relay traffic to interwork and run over ATM networks. Soft-ATM Subsystems allows manufacturers of hubs, switches, routers, multiplexers and other network equipment products to incorporate in their products easy-to-use, off-the-shelf ATM capabilities that enables them to dramatically improve their product time-to-market. The FRF.8 software module is hardware-independent, portable source code that efficiently converts frame relay frames to ATM protocol data units (PDUs) to enable the transmission of frame relay traffic over ATM networks. The software module complies with the Frame Relay Forum/ATM PVC PVC: see polyvinyl chloride. PVC in full polyvinyl chloride Synthetic resin, an organic polymer made by treating vinyl chloride monomers with a peroxide. Service Interworking (standard) interworking - Systems or components, possibly from different origins, working together to perform some task. Interworking depends crucially on standards to define the interfaces between the components. Implementation Agreement (FRF.8) as agreed to by The ATM Forum and The Frame Relay Forum, the company said. Soft-ATM FRF.8 also includes, as a separate API, Multiprotocol Encapsulation over AAL-5 (RFC 1483). This can be compiled separately and used in virtually any ATM application, even when frame relay to ATM interworking is not needed. "The addition of FRF.8 adds a major new component to the product offerings of our customers, by enabling their ATM solutions to accommodate the large volume of frame relay traffic currently in use," Ethan Harris, president of Harris & Jeffries, commented. "This is a further example of our `hassle-free' approach to delivering ATM solutions," he said. The FRF.8 code is extremely compact and written in ANSI C language for maximum execution efficiency. It has been optimized for, and is pre-integrated with H&J's High-Performance Frame Relay frame relay products. The entire Soft-ATM product line includes diagnostic traces, probes, loopbacks and test applications that assist developers in performing fast, easy and hassle-free integration. The highly portable software runs on almost all network operating systems without alteration, including Windows NT/95, UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). , Novell Netware, or embedded kernels such as VxWorks, pSOS+, Lynx OS, Nucleus, OS-9 and other proprietary operating kernel systems. Maps, Manages, Converts The FRF.8 Subsystem incorporates a comprehensive feature set that manufacturers can adapt to assure that frame relay functions will be accurately mapped during frame relay to ATM interworking. The software module provides mapping of congestion control information between frame relay and ATM. The discard eligibility bit (DE) in frame relay may be mapped to the cell loss priority (CLP 1. CLP - Cornell List Processor. 2. CLP - Constraint Logic Programming. ) field in ATM, for example. The frame relay forward explicit congestion notification ECN is an extension to IP which allows advance notification of congestion. ECN is only used when the two hosts signal that they want to use it. With this method, an ECN bit is placed in the IP header to explicitly notify the transmitter that the network link is congested. (FECN (Forward Explicit Congestion Notification) A frame relay message that notifies the receiving device that there is a congestion problem. See BECN. ) can also be mapped to the ATM explicit forward congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. indication (EFCI EFCI Explicit Forward Congestion Indication EFCI External Function Call Interface ). Features such as these assure congestion management is maintained and information preserved during end-to-end circuit transmissions when congestion problems occur. The new feature is available now from Harris & Jeffries. Pricing for each Soft-ATM subsystem varies between $15,000 and $60,000 per target system. The company said volume discounts may apply. Other Soft-ATM subsystems currently available include: ATM Signalling, ILMI ILMI Integrated Local Management Interface ILMI Interim Local Management Interface ILMI Interim Link Management Interface (ATMF) ILMI Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor (US National Park Service) , IP over ATM, LAN Emulation Client, Frame Relay to ATM Interworking (FRF.5). The company's products also include High-Performance Frame Relay, X.25 and PAD, SDLC and LLC software packages. About Harris & Jeffries, Inc. Harris & Jeffries, Inc. excels at providing high quality, leading edge, hassle-free, source code, hardware designs and engineering services for networking manufacturers, OEMs and integrators worldwide. H&J's state-of-the-art source code, network management and custom R&D solutions enable its customers to achieve fast time-to-market with technically advanced products. The company's field proven technical expertise includes ATM, frame relay, cell relay, X.25, network management, SNMP, RISC RISC in full Reduced Instruction Set Computing Computer architecture that uses a limited number of instructions. RISC became popular in microprocessors in the 1980s. , real-time operating, embedded and proprietary systems. CONTACT: Harris & Jeffries Chris Berluti, 617.329.3200 |
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