Evaluation of ATM-tenders of various manufacturers for the carrier network of DDkom
Brief description of customer
DDkom - the Dresdner Telekommunikationsgesellschaft mbH has one of the most modern optical fibre networks in Germany and has positioned itself as a major city carrier in the Dresden region of Germany. Their product portfolio ranges from ISDN telephone connections through broad-based high-speed links to individual Internet access. DDkom offers its customers everything they need for effective telecommunications.
Project aims
On the basis of the existing SDH network of DDkom, an ATM network needed to be developed. The network would be used to provide the customers of DDkom with a variety of ATM services. The specific goal of the project was to evaluate the technical advantages and disadvantages of ATM components of five different manufacturers against the background of the demands of DDkom and its key customers on the planned ATM network.
The network itself
The DDkom network is made up of SDH rings that are in turn linked by cross-connectors. Customer locations are connected to this network via Add/Drop multiplexers.
The new network would then interconnect a number of ATM switches by means of links to the Add/Drop multiplexer via the SDH network. The transparent customer ATM-service should involve either a connection directly to an ATM-switch or via an Add/Drop multiplexer and the SDH ring to an ATM-switch.
Description of the test scenario and the EANTC Mission
The evaluation of EANTC is based on various documents including:
- The requirement catalogues of key customers,
- The tender documentation for the ATM components of the DDkom network
- The separate product specifications of the various manufacturers.
The criteria to evaluate the ATM components is reflected in the demands of DDkom and their potential key customers. The priorities are parameters including:
- Scalability of the network
- Long-service life / Protection of investments
- Ease of use of components
- Network management with billing and accounting options
- Configuration of service quality, traffic engineering and service level agreements
- Performance and reliability
- Redundancy of backbone, availability criteria
- Near-standard behaviour
- Integration of components in existing network structure
The consultancy and evaluation performance of EANTC is concluded with a detailed report which compares the components of the individual manufacturers in detail and makes specific recommendations for the various different implementation scenarios.
