Sangoma Technical News: October 19 2001
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This news brief covers recent technical events at Sangoma. Older events will
scroll off the end of the news brief as new ones are added, but otherwise
the announcements will be repeated on subsequent issues. For further
information discussed in this newsletter, please visit www.sangoma.com or
email mailto:saleserv@sangoma.com

If you would like to be removed from this mailing list please send an Email
to helpdesk@sangoma.com
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NEW RELEASES
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1. WAN technical tips by Sangoma
2. Enhancements To WANPIPE for Linux
3. DSP PAD implementation for BSC 3270 over X.25
4. S5141/56 card with built in 56/64kbps DSU/CSU
5. New educational software pack
6. Annex G X.25 over Frame Relay support
7. Transparent bitstream support for serial and T1
8. Beta version of T1/E1 card
9. RPM install for WANPIPE
10. SS7 support for Telco management
COMING DOWN THE ROAD: Future releases
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1. WANtips by Sangoma
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 19 2001

Sangoma will be providing a bi-weekly series of tips based on the
experiences of our customers and ourselves. Please click this link
http://www.sangoma.com/newsletters_tips/wantips.htm and check out our first
tip:  Frame Relay: What does a CIR mean to us.

These tips will be distributed in the form of short, text based emails, and
will also be available on our web site.

If you would like to subscribe, go to
http://www.sangoma.com/newsletters_tips/sangoma_newsletters.htm. If you have
a useful tip on WAN connectivity, and would like to share it with  your
colleagues, please email the information to  mailto:techdesk@sangoma.com.


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2. Enhancements To WANPIPE for Linux
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 18 2001

o	Full support for SNMP MIBs
We have always supported the standard interface MIB that gives very basic
information. The latest versions of WANPIPE for Linux now support the RFC
standard MIBs for Frame Relay, X.25 and PPP. This allows users to access the
kind of information available previously through the Monitors. This
information is now available to SNMP applications such a OpenView and MRTG
to support sophisticated network management and alarms, and are also
accessible in the /proc/net/wanrouter directory. The relevant RFCs are
RFC2115 (Frame Relay), RFC1471, RFC1473 (PPP) and RFC1382 (X.25).

o	No more kernel compilation necessary
For some time it has been possible to install WANPIPE from the installation
script without a kernel recompile. However, for clients making use of the
APIs (Application Program Interfaces), recompilation of the kernel was
necessary to include Sangoma's special lossless sockets. The WANPIPE Beta5
2.2.3 release does away with this requirement, even for API users.

o	Source RPMs for guaranteed compatibility
./Setup buildrpm is a utility that will create a custom rpm from for the
current system hardware platform and current Linux source in usr/src/linux.
It will compile all WANPIPE utilities using the current libraries. This
means that the RPMs are always current and always correct for your
hardware/Linux combination.

For more details, please email mailto:saleserv@sangoma.com
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3. DSP PAD implementation for BSC 3270 over X.25
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 22 2001

Sangoma's X.25 suite for Linux now includes the industry standard DSP
(Display System Protocol) PAD for 3270 BSC. Both the Host PAD and Terminal
PAD are supported, allowing devices using 3270 BSC to connect over X.25
networks.

When used in combination with Sangoma's Annex G X.25 over Frame Relay
implementation, BSC based devices can now make use of cost effective Frame
Relay networks for BSC connections at the same time as IP, PAD and other
sessions are active.

For more details, please email mailto:saleserv@sangoma.com
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4. S5141/56 card with built in 56/64kbps DSU/CSU
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 31 2001

BETA versions of the new S514/56 card with built in 56/64kbps DSU/CSU
support have been tested in the field under Windows and Linux. The card
incorporates a 56kbps DSU/CSU on board which is compatible with the Bellcore
DDS standards and which can be used on any 56/64kbps DDS line for
Point-to-Point, Frame Relay or X.25 connections anywhere in North America.

Using the card reduces server room clutter, reduces power requirements,
improves reliability and reduces cost. You also get a 56k DSU/CSU which is
remotely monitored and configurable, something that is hard to find at any
price.

The S514/56 includes a secondary synch/asynch RS232 port that can be used
for backup modem support or for network debugging remotely.

The production version of the card will be capable of operating in both 5v
and 3.3v machines.

For more details, please email mailto:saleserv@sangoma.com
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5. New educational software pack
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 12 2001

Our educational packages have been updated to make them easier and more
intuitive for students to use. A single application selects the line
protocol, loads and configures the card and brings up a test program and a
line monitor.

The test program allows students to exercise all the Sangoma API calls
simply from a graphic interface, while watching the results on the monitor
window. It enables a student to  get hands on experience on Working with and
debugging a  communications line. The monitor can be configured to do
protocol interpretations or just show raw hex data. A short running log of
protocol events is also displayed.

The new Educational Software runs on all versions of Windows and supports
all Sangoma PCI cards.

For more details, please email mailto:saleserv@sangoma.com
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6. Annex G X.25 over Frame Relay support
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 14 2001

Annex G is a protocol designed to encapsulate X.25 traffic over Frame Relay
DLCIs. It provides a mechanism for supporting older X.25 equipment on modern
Frame Relay networks which provide improved performance at less cost.

Sangoma's Annex G supports up to 255 X.25 LCNs per Frame Relay DLCI, 100
DLCIs per port, and an unlimited number of ports per machine. Configuration
utilities and system design is such that it is practical to support several
thousand X.25 connections of multiple LCNs each on one host machine. The
number of DLCIs supported will per port will soon rise to 512 in the next
release of Frame Relay microcode.

For more details, please email mailto:saleserv@sangoma.com
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7. Transparent bitstream support for serial and T1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 29 2001

Sangoma cards and software can now capture and transmit transparent bit
streams of data from communication lines. The unframed bit data from a line
can be captured, examined, manipulated and retransmitted in real time at
line speeds exceeding 2Mbps.

This mechanism can be used inter alias for high security encryption, data
insertion, and analysis of third party messages. The next stage of the
project will be to use this utility to break out individual DS0 voice and
data traffic from T1 and E1 lines.

The bitstream support runs under both MS-DOS, Windows and Linux, and will be
ported to other operating systems as required.

For more details, please email mailto:saleserv@sangoma.com
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8. Beta version of T1/E1 card
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 27, 2001

BETA versions of the Sangoma S514/ET1 card are now shipping. This card
supports not only T1 and Fractional T1 Telco interfaces, but also E1 and the
Japanese J1 standards. The product is completely configurable in its choice
of active channels and supports The new T1/E1 card supports follow
parameters:

T1:
	o Line Decoding	: AMI or B8ZS
	o Framing Type	: D4 or ESF
	o LB0		      : CSU: 0 dB to DSX: 550-660ft
	o Clock Mode	: Normal or Master
	o Channels 1 to 24 in any combination
E1:
	o Line Decoding	: AMI or HDB3
	o Framing Type	: non-CRC4 or CRC4
	o Clock Mode	: Normal or Master
	o Channels 0 to 31 in any combination.

The production version of the card will be capable of operating in both 5v
and 3.3v machines.

For more details, please email mailto:saleserv@sangoma.com
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9. RPM install for WANPIPE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 27, 2001

WANPIPE for Linux is now available in binary RPM form, so it can be easily
installed without any need to recompile Linux kernel or kernel modules.
Generally, WANPIPE can be up and running in just few minutes.

The binary RPMs are for use only with the kernel shipped with a particular
distribution (e.g.: wanpipe-2.2.2-rh7.1-up-1-1.i386.rpm should only be used
with the uni-processor kernel (up) shipped with RedHat 7.1).

If Sangoma API will be used, the source code WANPIPE distribution should be
used as the Linux kernel must be recompiled, as the APIs require loss free
sockets, which need to be installed in the kernel. This will change when
Sangoma API support is included in Linux kernel.

Binary RPMs are now available for:
Red Hat 7.1 uni-processor kernel
Red Hat 7.1 smp kernel
Red Hat 6.2 uni-processor kernel
Red Hat 6.2 smp kernel
Mandrake 8.0 uni-processor kernel
Mandrake 8.0 smp kernel

For more details, please email mailto:saleserv@sangoma.com
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10. SS7 support for Telco management
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 9 2001

The combination of the Signalling System 7 (SS7) MPT-2 and the Sangoma
S508/S514 adapters provides application developers with an easy-to- use,
rock solid solution for the creation of SS7 applications. The real time
protocol aspects demanded by the MPT-2 specifications are handled
independently of the host processor on an intelligent adapter, leaving the
host PC free to handle other tasks. APIs are provided for a number of
operating systems and these APIs facilitate the integration of any MPT-3
application with the Sangoma MPT-2 product.

o Designed in accordance with ITU-T Q.703 and ANSI T1.111.3 recommendations.

o Facilitates full interaction with the application level (Level 3) as
defined in the listed recommendations.  This includes functions such as
"Retrieval request and FSNC" and "Retrieve BSNT". In addition all
"unspecified implementation dependent functions" such as congestion control
have been included.

o Handles both the Basic Error Correction Method and the Preventive Cyclic
Retransmission Error Correction Method (used largely in satellite
communications).

o Optional automatic internal congestion control mechanisms for both inbound
and outbound traffic have been included.

o Integrated data scope.

o Integrated history table which records each state change.

o Full statistics package.

The initial application for this code was in a protocol converter between a
device talking standard serial SS7 and a device talking the TCP/IP based
TALI 1 protocol.

For more details, please email mailto:saleserv@sangoma.com
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COMING DOWN THE ROAD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Improved support for T1/E1/56kbps card based DSU/CSUs...November 2001
New Frame Relay microcode...............................December 2001
Breakout of individual DS0s from T1 and E1 streams......February 2001
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