Nuera Communications announces highest performance voice over frame relay access device, upgradeable to voice over IP in future releases

Business Wire, Sept 18, 1996

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 18, 1996--Nuera Communications Inc., a leader in integrated voice/data networking systems and technology, Wednesday at NetWorld+Interop Atlanta, announced the Access Plus F200, the industry's most advanced Voice/Data Frame Relay Access Device (FRAD).

Designed to meet carrier and corporate requirements for voice connectivity over frame relay networks at high-density, high-speed locations, the F200 supports full frame relay trunks at T1/E1 speeds along with T1/E1 PBX interfaces and the capacity to connect up to 30 voice channels per unit.

Currently using frame relay transport to maximize network cost savings while maintaining high-quality voice communications, Nuera's F-Series products, including the F100 and F200, will eventually be software downloadable to support IP network transport for voice/data integration over corporate internetworks and the Internet.

"The F200 emerges from Nuera's strategy to offer the highest quality voice solutions available, while using the most appropriate transport to reduce transmission costs without sacrificing `business-class quality,'" said Andy Voss, Nuera vice president of marketing.

"We use TDM and frame relay transport now and will support IP in the future as standard IP bandwidth reservation and call establishment procedures are more widely implemented by router and switch vendors. We will continue to develop advanced network systems which reduce costs to a minimum, subject to our customers' requirement that our quality and performance keep the transmission mechanisms of our network systems transparent to our users."

Nuera's current frame relay product, the Access Plus F100, can be upgraded to an F200 for $1,150 with the addition of a single High Speed Packet module and software download.

High-Performance, Multi-Processor Voice FRAD Architecture Supports Higher Network Rates and Multiple Frame Relay Trunks in a Single Unit

Nuera's F200 uses up to four high-speed packet processors per unit and up to 32 Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) per unit to support toll-quality voice communications over a range of access rates into a frame relay network. According to TeleChoice analyst Kieran Taylor, the performance provided by the F200 satisfies a growing requirement among carrier and corporate network managers.

"With sub-T1 FRADs," said Taylor, "a customer would not be able to fully take advantage of available frame relay access speeds and switch capabilities, so those voice FRADs could be bottlenecked in the network.

"As voice transmission over frame relay becomes an increasingly common approach to reducing communications costs, more frequently you'll see higher density locations requiring voice FRADs like the F200 to utilize full-speed T1 and E1 frame relay access links, and compress all 24 to 30 voice channels off a T1 or E1 PBX span."

The F200 also supports up to 16 data ports/frame relay trunks, each with throughput up to T1/E1 depending on network configuration. Data ports support SDLC/HDLC, bisync, async and frame relay protocols. The multiple frame relay trunks allow network managers to use the F200 to build high-performance private networks with switch and FRAD functions performed by a single F200 at many sites.

Industry's Most Comprehensive Implementation of ITU-Standard and Proprietary/Enhanced Voice Compression Algorithms

The F200 supports a broad range of internationally standardized voice compression algorithms (including ITU G.726 ADPCM at 32 kbps, G.728 LD-CELP at 16 kbps, and G.729 CS-ACELP at 8 kbps), plus Nuera's own Enhanced CELP optimized for integrated voice/data systems (E-CELP at 4.8 kbps, 7.47 kbps and 9.6 kbps). Nuera product line manager Glen Gerhard stated that this variety allows network managers to optimize their cost/performance position.

"The F200 supports independent configuration for each voice channel and allows the calling and called channels to set their algorithm and compression rate each time a call is established. Network managers can mix and match voice channel configuration to support highest quality connections for customer service and executive use, while using lower speeds for internal purposes and preserving any-to-any connection capability."

Voice Technology and Call Processing Advancements

The F200 takes advantage of Nuera's substantial investment in development of leading-edge voice compression, echo cancellation, voice activity detection, and fax and modem relay technology.

In the frame relay environment, Nuera delivers unsurpassed capabilities in call routing, allowing network managers to install F-Series products into their networks without reprogramming their PBX's dialing plans, since the F200 is flexible enough to adapt to existing plans. The F100 and F200 support internal calls and "off-net" calling where users on either side of the network may be terminating at a PSTN.

Network Management and Training

The F200 includes an embedded Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) agent which can be managed under any SNMP-based manager as well as under Nuera's HP OpenView for Windows workstation manager. Nuera's F-Series configurator is designed to facilitate installation and configuration of the F100s and F200s in public and private network applications.