ITU Telecom World 2003

October 16, 2003
Cirpack launches next-gen platform for public telephony

GENEVA -- CIRPACK, a leading vendor of voice switches for operators' infrastructures, unveiled the SuperNode-B, claimed to be the world's most powerful next-generation platform for public telephony. Based on IBM eServer BladeCenter-T architecture, CIRPACK SuperNode-B is a compact, standard-based and easy to manage shelf that meets the most demanding requirements in terms of modularity, scalability, reliability and efficient operation. It will also enable CIRPACK to enter the North American market with a very compelling product proposition.

The CIRPACK SuperNode-B is the combination of IBM's BladeCenter-T shelf, CIRPACK HVS (high velocity softSwitch) and PTG (public telephony gateway). It will be ready for trials early 2004, with worldwide availability mid 2004. This 8U shelf, running Intel processors and carrier-grade Linux can manage several millions of busy hour call attempts (BHCA), up to 264,000 subscribers and up to 30,000 voice channels of mixed ATM, IP and TDM traffic (1,000 E1s). More local or remote shelves can be added to scale the platform to a multi-thousand E1 node.

CIRPACK SuperNode-B is a complete class-4/class-5 voice switching solution developed in partnership with IBM for telecom operators to manage powerful long distance networks and subscriber services. It is made of IBM BladeCenter-T shelf specially designed for carrier-class architectures, hosting CIRPACK's field proven high velocity softSwitch for controlling calls and CIRPACK's new public telephony gateway especially designed for the IBM BladeCenter enclosure for connecting telecom networks. Operators can also add other IBM eServer blades into the BladeCenter-T shelf for running any third party software applications (billing systems, service applications, databases, OSS, etc.)

James Pertzborn, vice president, eServer Strategy, IBM, said: "By integrating the media/signaling gateway functions into BladeCenter, CIRPACK and IBM are freeing telecom operators from proprietary technologies and creating milestones for the industry in terms of power, features, ease of use and cost of ownership. CIRPACK's selection of BladeCenter is another proof point of the success of the blade alliance that was established to increase customer benefits while advancing blade technology."

Rolf Schonhowd, senior analyst at Current Analysis, added: "CIRPACK has demonstrated its ability to deliver carrier-class voice switches to telecom operators. With the SuperNode-B, operators will benefit from a very attractive platform on which they can start deploying next-generation voice networks on a large scale. This announcement shows IBM's commitment to the SoftSwitch market and gives CIRPACK a strategic and technological advantage over its competitors."