N.E.T. Announces Vista Architecture; Multiservice Architecture Integrates ATM, TDM, Frame Relay, ISDN & LAN Services.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 1995--Network Equipment Technologies, Inc. (N.E.T.) today announced the "Vista Architecture," a multiservice architecture for broadband and narrowband wide area networks (WANs). The Vista Architecture includes a new ATM WAN switch from N.E.T. for newly emerging broadband applications, and also integrates the N.E.T. IDNX system, the best of breed multiservice bandwidth manager for narrowband applications. The IDNX platform will also serve as an ATM Service Interface (ASI) to the ATM switch, providing ATM adaptation for existing voice, data, video, frame relay and internetworking applications.

The Vista Architecture is unique in that it also allows best of breed products from other vendors to act as ASIs for other applications, such as frame relay, ISDN, LAN internetworking, routing, etc. The network management system (NMS) for the Vista Architecture, based on the industry standard HP OpenView platform, will integrate the ATM switch, the IDNX and the other ASIs into a cohesive, seamless backbone network.

The highly flexible Vista Architecture is designed to address both enterprise network and carrier service needs. The ATM WAN switch at the core of the Vista Architecture will be a third-generation ATM platform that specifically addresses the high- availability requirements essential for the successful provisioning of broadband network services. It will be compliant with the most recent ATM Forum standards and will include extensive traffic management capabilities. These features will differentiate it from today's first and second generation offerings. Together, the ATM switch and the IDNX family will span the range of applications from narrowband to broadband, and provide a true extension and amplification of existing multiservice backbone network infrastructures.

The N.E.T. IDNX TDM-based multiservice bandwidth manager, and the N.E.T. SONET Transmission Manager (STM) are included within the Vista Architecture. The industry-leading IDNX family has already been enhanced with new networking applications such as routing, frame relay and ISDN as the technologies became available. The Vista Architecture allows IDNX and STM customers to extend their networks to include ATM technology as their applications require the performance of broadband networking. Additional N.E.T. products conforming to the Vista Architecture are scheduled to be introduced over the next 18 months.

Integration of IDNX and ATM Multiservice Backbone Networks

The Vista Architecture is uniquely designed to accommodate network evolution paths that require the addition of ATM to existing networks. Study after study has shown that the evolution path to ATM from existing wide area network infrastructure is the number one concern for enterprise users. Few wide area networks will be built using purely ATM platforms in the foreseeable future. Networks will include a mixture of ATM, TDM, frame relay, and other platforms. In particular, TDM will remain the infrastructure technology of choice for narrowband networks with trunk speeds below 2 Mbps.

Today, the N.E.T. IDNX multiservice bandwidth manager is used by over 1000 enterprises and many global value-added network (VAN) service suppliers to provide mission-critical, wide area networking for information-intensive organizations around the world. The Vista Architecture establishes the road map for the evolution of the IDNX for narrowband applications for the next decade as well as the extension of the N.E.T. product line to include a complementary ATM switch for broadband applications.

The IDNX multiservice platform will be extended with an ATM Interface (ATMI) module to provide access to ATM carrier services, and to support ATM "virtual trunks" over either an ATM service "cloud" or an enterprise ATM network. This will allow enterprises and network service providers to reduce facilities costs and to offer improved performance for bursty traffic. The ATMI will also allow the IDNX to act as an ASI to the N.E.T. ATM switch, providing adaptation for existing voice, data, frame relay and internetworking applications. More detail on the ATMI will be disclosed early next year.

ATM in the WAN

For over a year, N.E.T. has consistently stated that ATM in the WAN is not yet ready for deployment in mission-critical applications. At the recent ATM Year Three Conference, the general consensus was that ATM will not be ready for prime time in the WAN until 1997. Some vendors with current generation ATM switches are acknowledging that their products cannot be upgraded and that new switches will be necessary, thus orphaning their current offerings.

Today's ATM platforms use first or second generation technologies that do not have the necessary capacity, buffering or traffic management features. The ATM Forum has made steady, but slow, progress in establishing complete and comprehensive standards, but key standards are not yet complete. ATM silicon is only now becoming available to allow ATM WAN switches to be produced at acceptable manufacturing costs. These indicators show that ATM in the WAN is only now becoming technologically viable.

The N.E.T. view is that ATM WAN platforms with the reliability, performance, standards and cost characteristics suitable for the N.E.T. enterprise and carrier customer base are not yet on the market. The N.E.T. ATM WAN switch will be among the first of a new, third generation of ATM switches that are designed for deployment in large scale, mission-critical wide area networks.

"Competent ATM-based multiservice network architectures will begin to be available in 1997. Viable carrier services will be available shortly thereafter, although carrier trials of third-generation products will probably restart in 1996," said David Owen, vice president, corporate development and strategy, N.E.T. "Until then, all ATM in the WAN can be regarded as experimental."

N.E.T. and the ATM Forum

N.E.T. has been an ATM innovator for over five years pioneering a number of technical innovations that are just now completing standardization, such as virtual LANs, LAN emulation, switched virtual circuits (SVCs), rate-based flow control and the first segmentation and reassembly (SAR) ASIC. N.E.T. has been issued a number of patents for fundamental inventions in the ATM field. In 1992, the company was a driving force in the founding of the ATM Forum, having recognized the need for proactive involvement to accelerate the adoption of ATM technology, and N.E.T. continues its participation.

The N.E.T. Vista Architecture

The Vista Architecture from N.E.T. integrates the IDNX multiservice platform, the new N.E.T. third-generation ATM WAN switch, and other platforms that provide concentration, edge routing, and frame-processing functions. The new Vista Architecture represents an expansion of the N.E.T. multiservice platform concept to a broader multiservice architecture concept.

"Clearly, ATM will emerge as the dominant multiservice switching technology for broadband communications," said Robbie Forkish, vice president and chief technology officer, N.E.T. "But no network will obviate the need for narrowband support, even as broadband applications emerge. Nor will ATM totally replace TDM. Networks will be hybrid in a number of dimensions: narrowband/broadband, TDM/ATM, routed/switched LANs, cell/frames, local/remote, and public/private."

N.E.T. ATM WAN Switch

The core of the Vista Architecture is an ATM WAN switch that can function both as a stand-alone switch or as a "virtual backplane" for the multiservice architecture. The architecture is unique in that it supports both the N.E.T. ATM WAN switch and public ATM services as the virtual backplane, allowing fully geographically distributed implementations of the architecture. The Vista Architecture supports frame relay/ATM interworking from the N.E.T. Frame Relay Exchange (FRX) IDNX module, and it also performs multiprotocol encapsulation for LAN traffic supported by the integral LAN/WAN Exchange (LWX) router module. IDNX platforms will interface to the N.E.T. ATM WAN switch over a standard User-to-Network Interface (UNI). The ATM UNI acts as a "virtual bus" to the virtual backplane, supporting local or remote connections.

The N.E.T. ATM WAN switch is based on a scalable design for capacities as low as 622 Mbps, yet it can scale gracefully to 10 Gbps on a non-blocking basis. The design goal of the switch is to achieve a system availability of 99.9999 percent, consistent with the more stringent reliability that will be required of next-generation broadband networks It is being designed for multiple traffic classes and up to 64 Quality of Service levels to allow the most critical applications to receive the highest levels of service. More detail on the N.E.T. ATM WAN switch will be disclosed early next year.

ATM Service Interfaces

The Vista Architecture also supports non-ATM applications using ATM Service Interfaces (ASIs). Three generic ASIs include: bandwidth managers, such as the IDNX, that provide narrowband multiservice adaptation functions and T1/E1 concentration; edge router ASIs that provide legacy LAN interface and internetworking functions; and frame ASIs that provide high-speed frame/packet adaptation services; ISDN capabilities; and T1/E1 ATM port aggregation into high-speed ATM services.

The N.E.T. goal is to provide a full range of ASIs developed by N.E.T. or through industry partnerships. The design of the virtual backplane of the Vista Architecture creates a loose coupling that will allow future N.E.T. platforms to be added as part of an investment protection in the ASIs. The ATM UNI is an open standard and it is becoming the interface of choice for carrier services. As a result, it also becomes the point of demarcation between public and private networks and serves as a vehicle to facilitate hybrid network applications.

N.E.T. White Papers

Two new White Papers are available from N.E.T. that provide more details on the Vista Architecture. "The N.E.T. Vista Architecture" describes the new architecture map to extend the power of today's products with ATM broadband connectivity. A complementary White Paper, "ATM in the WAN," presents the issues surrounding the introduction of ATM into wide area networks. Both White Papers are available from N.E.T. The "Multiservice Backbone Networks" White Paper is also still available and complements the two new White Papers by focusing on the continuing benefits of the N.E.T. multiservice approach to wide area networking. Call 1 [phone] Dept. P11.

N.E.T., headquartered in Redwood City, Calif. (NYSE: NWK), is a leading worldwide supplier of multiservice backbone networks for information-intensive enterprises and network service providers. The company has networks installed in more than 50 countries. Customers include financial, transportation, manufacturing, service, government and telecommunications organizations requiring the efficient and reliable transport of mission-critical information on a regional, national or global basis. N.E.T. meets the exacting worldwide ISO 9001 standards for design and manufacturing and is certified to the TickIT quality standard for software development. -0-

Note to Editors: Network Equipment Technologies, N.E.T., LAN/WAN Exchange, LWX, Frame Relay Exchange, SONET Transmission Manager, STM and the N.E.T. logo are trademarks, and IDNX is a registered trademark of Network Equipment Technologies, Inc.

CONTACT: Network Equipment Technologies, Inc. (N.E.T.)

Paul Morrison, 415/780-5010 (media contact)

Ann Candelario, 415/780-5605 (Financial Analysts)