NComm Inc. today announced the release of NComm TMS SONET, a suite of Wide Area Network (WAN) interface development software that enables network equipment vendors to bring standard-compliant SONET capabilities to market quickly without the cost and risk of Layer 1 optical software engineering.
The addition of SONET to NComm's Trunk Management Software (TMS) product line extends the company's transmission software offerings to include VT, STS-1, and OC-n trunk management. Upon release, the software supports SONET transmission framer products from Agere and PMC Sierra.
"Increasingly, SONET transmission is being deployed because it easily accommodates traditional network building blocks such as T1/E1 and DS3, and allows edge networks to easily evolve to newer, higher speed technologies," explains Bill Matern, president and chief executive officer of NComm Inc. "NComm TMS SONET source code provides a cost- and time-effective path to incorporate SONET functionality into communications platforms without needing to staff up dedicated experts in an area that is not necessarily a product differentiator for the manufacturer."
NComm TMS SONET consists of trunk management software and its source code that enables an equipment manufacturer to embed SONET transmission functionality into its platforms quickly and with ease, claims the company. Because NComm's engineering specialty is focused on developing WAN interfaces for both well-established and start-up equipment vendors, the software is rigorously tested, fully functional, and standards compliant. The new SONET product is currently running in live networks on both network and customer premise systems.
"Service providers, in pursuit of maximizing operational efficiencies, are demanding that their equipment vendors demonstrated flexibility in their platforms," contends Christin Flynn, director of Communications Network Infrastructure for Boston-based Yankee Group. "Metropolitan area networks are under particular scrutiny, requiring vendors in this dynamic portion of the network to demonstrate the support of a wide array of network interfaces. By focusing on the engineering specialty of SONET interface software with this product, NComm brings value and flexibility to its customers by eliminating engineering risk, decreasing time to market, and enabling equipment vendors to adapt to the changing needs of service providers in the MAN."
Telica Inc., developer of carrier-grade switching solutions, selected NComm TMS SONET to add the optical interface to its Plexus 9000 softswitch platform. The Plexus 9000 provides Class 4 and 5 services for the PSTN as well as ATM and IP. The company made a strategic decision to bring SONET capabilities to market quickly through the NComm offering, rather than allocate additional in-house engineering resources to its development.
"Telica's innovation lies in media and signaling gateways and controlling those gateways, not necessarily in transmission technology. But the need to have reliable, fully functional and standards-based SONET interfaces on the Plexus 9000 platform was important in offering a total solution to our customers," asserts Joe Quinlivan, Telica's vice president of engineering. "We had SONET up and running in a matter of days with the product and support provided by NComm."
The NComm TMS SONET software starts at $20,000.
For more information about NComm (Salem, NH), visit the company's Web site at www.ncomm.com.