Tiara Networks Announces Industry's First Complete Multi-link Frame Relay Solution for Service Providers.

Business Editors and High Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 8, 2000

Offering Includes the Series 7000 for POP Aggregation and the Model

1450 for Supercharged Broadband Internet and Frame Relay Access

Tiara Networks today announced the immediate availability of the industry's first product line to support the Multi-link Frame Relay (MFR) standards from the Frame Relay Forum. The new Frame Relay product line extends Tiara's existing IP-based product family to now include MFR and Frame Relay solutions for both the Point of Presence (POP) and customer premises. Tiara's new products include the Tiara 7000 Frame Switch series, which is designed for service provider POPs, and the model 1450 Multi-Megabit Access Concentrator for the customer premises. Tiara is also adding MFR and Frame Relay support to the existing Series 6000 and 1000 IP aggregation and concentration product lines. The new MFR protocols fill the bandwidth gap between T1 and T3 data rates by defining new Aggregated Virtual Circuit (AVC) services.

(Editor's Note: See separate press release titled "Tiara Networks Completes Its Next-generation Service Aggregation Offering" for the impact of these new products on Tiara's market position.)

"Tiara's complete Multi-link Frame Relay solution enables PSINet to lead the market with a new standards-based multi-megabit Internet service offering for businesses that fills the huge bandwidth, price, and availability gaps between T1 and T3 access," said Mark Fedor, vice president of Engineering for PSINet. "The new Series 7000 provides the full feature set PSINet needs to move Frame Relay access closer to our customers at distributed POPs, while the companion Series 1000 for the customer premises offers an affordable and flexible solution for our business subscribers who require symmetric multi-megabit Internet service between T1 and T3 data rates."

"Frame Relay has surprised many people with its continued popularity, and its growth shows no sign of slowing over the next few years-especially with the new Multi-link Frame Relay (MFR) specification introduced last October by the Frame Relay Forum," said Greg Howard, principal analyst of the HTRC Group. "Tiara's Series 7000 Frame Switch takes good advantage of this new spec to make Frame Relay an even more valuable technology for users by filling the T1/T3 bandwidth gap, enhancing performance, and keeping costs down via distributed POP access."

Applications for Multi-link Frame Relay

The relentless increase in bandwidth demand created by Internet access and private enterprise networks is not met by existing services such as T3 and digital subscriber line (DSL) technology. T3 is often unavailable or cost-prohibitive, while DSL has its own set of availability issues and is often too slow to meet the demands of these customers. By contrast, Tiara Networks next-generation MFR solution enables service providers to rapidly deploy cost-effective high-speed Frame Relay services to their customers.

The Tiara Frame Relay switches and concentrators installed at the POP deliver high-performance aggregation of MFR, fractional T1, and T1 services. At the customer premises, Tiara offers a series of access concentrators that provide a flexible and affordable MFR access solution that operates over ordinary local-loop wiring. These products achieve high-speed, high-performance symmetric access from 3 to 12 Mbps by efficiently bundling multiple copper lines together via the Multi-link Frame Relay protocol.

"Tiara's new standards-based MFR product solutions supercharge Service Providers' Frame Relay infrastructure to fill the bandwidth gap between T1 and the next step up in network access technology, fiber-based T3," commented Kash Mitra, vice president of marketing at Tiara. "Service Providers can now offer cost-effective, multi-megabit access solutions, and business customers can increase their bandwidth utilizing reliable, secure, symmetric, and ubiquitous T1 lines."

Tiara's Series 7000 Frame Switch

The Series 7000 provides a complete high-performance Frame Relay service aggregation and switching solution for both MFR and any combination of DS-0, NxDS-0, and T1 Frame Relay service. The Series 7000 Frame Switches are available with a channelized T3 WAN interface and either a clear-channel DS3 or a high-speed serial interface (HSSI) uplink for connectivity to routers and switches. The Series 7000 handles up to 128 customers with support for 1024 virtual circuits and is designed for NEBS compliance. Both models also provide 10/100 Base-T Ethernet interfaces for management.

The Tiara Series 7000 systems can be managed locally or remotely by SNMP, Telnet or a familiar Command Line Interface (CLI). The extensive support for standard and enterprise Simple Network Management Protocol Management Information Bases (SNMP MIBs), and scripting tools simplify provisioning and maintenance tasks. The systems also support a comprehensive set of diagnostic tools including Layer 1 and Layer 2 monitoring, packet counters, Telco loopbacks, and test pattern generation and detection. Front panel LEDs indicate WAN link state, and a test jack permits fault isolation of individual T1 circuits.

The Series 7000 is fully compatible with Tiara's existing line of Series 1000 Multi-Megabit Access Concentrators. The model 1200 has four T1 interfaces for throughput of up to 6 Mbps; the model 1400 has eight T1s for throughput of up to 12 Mbps.

Tiara's Model 1450 Multi-Megabit Access Concentrator

Tiara's model 1450 is the latest addition to the company's family of Series 1000 network access systems that supercharge the copper local loop to fill the bandwidth gap between T1 and T3. Like its model 1400 counterpart, the model 1450 has eight T1 interfaces for symmetric multi-megabit access up to 12 Mbps. The unit interfaces to an existing router or similar device through a standard HSSI port. The eight T1 WAN ports all have integrated Channel Service Units/Data Service Units (CSU/DSUs). Local and remote management capabilities are identical to those on the Series 7000.

The model 1450 is a complete multi-megabit access solution designed for use in enterprise Frame Relay networking and Internet access applications. The unit can be deployed by the enterprise as customer premises equipment (CPE) or by the service provider as customer located equipment (CLE) for a managed offering.

Pricing and Availability

Tiara's entire new family of Multi-link Frame Relay products is available immediately. Pricing begins for the Series 7000 at under $20,000 and for the model 1450 under $10,000. All Tiara products have a five-year hardware warranty, and service is available around the clock.

About Multi-link Frame Relay

The Frame Relay Forum recently ratified two new standards for multi-megabit access: the FRF.15 End-to-End Multi-link Frame Relay Implementation Agreement and the FRF.16 Multi-link Frame Relay UNI/NNI Implementation Agreement. These standards define a new service, the Aggregated Virtual Circuit (AVC), that combines multiple T1 links into a cohesive and scalable network access solution to fill the bandwidth gap between T1 and T3. The frame segmentation and re-assembly process is totally transparent to both switched Frame Relay and routed IP traffic. Tiara Networks is the first vendor to implement these new standards in commercially available products.

About Tiara Networks

Tiara Networks Incorporated, a Silicon Valley-based networking company, provides broadband access systems that supercharge IP and Frame Relay networks, enabling new-world networking solutions for both service providers and end users. For additional information, please visit Tiara Networks on-line at www.tiaranetworks.com.