Cascade Communications announces HyperPATH, the industry's first integrated public remote access and WAN switching system

Business Wire, Feb 25, 1996

Communications Corp. (NASDAQ:CSCC) today announced that it is expanding into the Public Remote Access market with the introduction of HyperPATH(TM), an ISDN-based remote access solution fully integrated with the B-STDX multiservice WAN (wide area network) switch. This announcement establishes a new paradigm for business-critical remote communications with the industry's first integrated Public Remote Access and WAN switching system. Designed for carriers and Internet Service Providers, HyperPATH delivers the most comprehensive and highest performing solution on the market today, accelerating the megatrend of migration from private to public networks based on broadband packet technologies, including Frame Relay, SMDS (Switched Multimegabit Digital Services) and ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) technology.

Increasing business reliance on remote communications for advanced wide area network applications, such as telecommuting and access to the graphics-intensive World Wide Web, is driving the need for high performance and highly reliable remote access. HyperPATH leverages the reliability and speed of ISDN technology to provide business critical connections at speeds of 128 Kbps per second, far surpassing top of the line 28.8 Kbps modem connections.

With the acceleration of ISDN availability and the growth of end user remote access applications, carriers and Internet Service Providers are readying themselves to offer Public Remote Access services. According to Datapro Information Services, the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) deployed almost half a million ISDN lines by the end of 1995. A group of leading ISDN providers, representing approximately 65 percent of that market, are currently evaluating HyperPATH for new services expected later this year. Those companies include: Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, Pacific Bell and US WEST. According to Infonetics Research, the remote access market is expected to grow by more than 100 percent in the next two years, from about $2.2 billion to more than $4.4 billion.

"With the rapid growth of core business remote communications, such as teleworking and branch office connectivity, ISDN and fast packet services have emerged as two of the fastest growing, most cost effective telecommunications technologies," stated Tony Murray, president of Bell Atlantic Large Business Services. "Bell Atlantic is pleased to be working with Cascade at the forefront of this new market to provide the most comprehensive and cost-effective solution."

Telecommunications Reform Bill Enables New Public Remote Access Services

The historic passage of the Telecommunications Reform Bill removed barriers that previously restricted the delivery of new and innovative data services, such as Public Remote Access. According to the META Group, the 1996 forecast for the overall Remote Access Market (public and private) is $1.1 billion with a cumulative average growth rate of 45 percent. Carriers also can leverage their 15 year investment in ISDN technology to provide lower cost and higher performing public remote access services for large business customers. HyperPATH provides the simplest way for service providers to offer Public Remote Access services. All existing installed B-STDX switches can be easily upgraded for Public Remote Access through the addition of a new ISDN module and software. Cascade is uniquely positioned to take a leadership position in this newly energized marketplace because the majority of the U.S. carriers and major Internet Service Providers already use Cascade switches to deliver data services.

"The U.S. workforce is becoming increasingly global, expanding reliance on remote communications beyond the occasional business user," said Daniel E. Smith, president and CEO, Cascade Communications. "Telecommuters and Internet business users require high performing and reliable connections. Accelerating ISDN deployment and plummeting ISDN equipment costs make it the only widely deployed high performance solution."

High Performance, Integrated Access and Switching in a Single Chassis

HyperPATH relies upon high speed switch technology to forward information, dramatically improving performance over conventional access solutions which rely upon lower speed router technology. HyperPATH provides a unique optional Quality of Service (QoS), known as HyperPATH PersonalCircuit(TM), which extends the concept of personal computing to communications by offering a personal circuit to every remote user. The HyperPATH PersonalCircuit ensures dedicated communication resources for every remote user, increasing personal productivity over shared circuit solutions. HyperPATH provides the highest density solution on the market, supporting up to 1,440 simultaneous connections for remote access, with additional capacity for two 45 Mbps switching trunks.

Leveraging a stringent carrier-grade system design and Cascade's sophisticated networking software expertise, HyperPATH provides extremely high levels of reliability. Access services are administered with CascadeView, the same network management system employed for the B-STDX. This engineering achievement allows service providers to consolidate management of remote access with their existing wide area switching management for easier, less costly wide area network administration.