Protocol eXchange Server
What Is It?
What Does It Do?
What Does It Include?
PXS for Current Users
PXS for Developers
Hardware Specs
Software
RedBoot Loader
LayGO® Server
Solutions
Telecom Switches
X.25 over TCP/IP
SNA
Other Applications
MAC Bridge
TCP/IP over X.25
X.25 over FR
Bi and Monosync
Other
Data Line Monitor
Related Documents
Protocol eXchange Server
PXS User's Guide
Telecom User's Guide
PXS Gateways for Telecom Switches
The PXS is ideally suited to solve some of the challenging problems of today's telecommunications industry:
| Problem/Challenge | PXS Solution |
|---|---|
| Because of maintenance concerns and NEBS (Network Equipment Building Systems) compliancy needs, the telecom industry avoids the use of PCs as front-end communication servers and opts instead for external solutions, such as Cisco routers, which do not use moving parts, e.g. hard drives. | The PXS does not have any moving part. It is designed for continuos operation, with a MTBF of 40 years. |
|
There is a trend for newer switches to use TCP/IP over Ethernet interfaces, and therefore,
the need to homogenize new and old switches that still use synchronous ports. For
instance, Nortel replaced the NOP/X.25 protocol with the simpler AFT/X.25, the
AFT/X.25 with AFT/EIU. They now offer a simple FTP interface.
Telecoms cannot simply upgrade their switches, particularly in today's economic climate. Many telecoms grew by buying smaller telecoms, thereby inheriting switches of mixed vintage. The integration of these switches and maintenance of their hardware and software is costly. |
The PXS encapsulates different switch implementations, resulting in a common interface to the collector. The PXS offers remote monitoring of the synchronous lines as well as remote PXS software updates, lowering maintenance costs. |
| Communication bottlenecks cause critical delays in CDR capturing and can result in lost revenues. Timely processing is crucial for fraud or insufficient credit detection. This is particularly true for modem dial-up. connections, where bad line quality, modem speed limits, and faulty modem configuration can create havoc. | With the PXS, CDR capture is switched from the phone or proprietary network to a network using TCP/IP, typically a reliable company intranet. |
For example, we used our PXS to capture CDRs from Nortel switches using AFT protocol. The PXS connects to the switch, gets the records and writes them to a remote file server (via TCP/IP) in an easily accessible flat file.
Other possible implementations include XOT (X.25 over TCP/IP), where the PXS operates as an XOT server. Directly connected to the switch's synchronous ports, it can handle the physical, link and network connections to the switch. The XOT server encapsulates the X.25 packets from each logical channel into one TCP/IP connection. The XOT client residing on the remote host decodes the X.25 packets and passes the data to the application. No synchronous communication hardware is needed at the XOT client site.
Siemens and Ericsson switches often use FTAM (File Transfer Access Method) over X.25 but you would like to access the FTAM over TCP/IP. The PXS X.25 to TCP/IP gateway provides the exchange of these protocols. The gateway is not aware that the "user data" are CDRs encapsulated in FTAM.
Example
Advanced Relay recently completed a project for Cable & Wireless in Europe, in which we exchanged all AFT/X.25 interfaces on nine Nortel DMS-100E switches to TCP/IP/Ethernet and an FTP-like protocol. Besides capturing all CDR files, we were able to remotely monitor the AFT/X25 traffic, upgrade a PXS software version, change configuration parameters and log events to a log-file.