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Sangoma Technical News: October 19 2001 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ======================================================================== NEW RELEASES ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ======================================================================= 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. ====================================================================== 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 ====================================================================== 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 ====================================================================== 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 ====================================================================== 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 ====================================================================== 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 ====================================================================== 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 ====================================================================== 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 ====================================================================== 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 ====================================================================== 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 ====================================================================== 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 =====================================================================