Switch Collapse/Switch Consolidation

From POTS to PIPES

As subscriber needs shift from narrowband POTS to broadband pipes, carriers are looking to new access technology to satisfy customer requirements. A new paradigm for voice switching in the local loop has emerged. A traditional network architecture of a host central office switch at the center of an exchange area surrounded by a number of remote switches serving distant communities and subscribers has given way to a new model of a host central office switch surrounded by a number of broadband access systems (BLCs, MSAPs or GPONs) that offer voice, high bandwidth data and even IP television service. This new consolidated switching, or so called “Switch Collapse”, architecture results in a network that, from a voice service perspective, is easier and cheaper to manage and offers uniform service and features across and entire exchange area. It also offers the opportunity for the carrier to sell additional revenue generating data and television services – the “triple play.”

Reliability and Public Safety

An unfortunate corollary of the new switching paradigm is that local and back-up switching capability has been moved further away from the subscribers. In the new broadband network, customers that were previously served by remote switches are now served by broadband access systems that typically do not have any local switching capability. If the link between an access system and the central office host is severed subscribers served by that access system will lose dial tone and local calling capability, including access to local emergency responders via 911.

Aztek ESA is the Answer for Survivable Networks

Installing Aztek’s 5000S ESA switch adjacent to broadband access systems is the answer to providing reliable, fault tolerant networks that meet public safety requirements for access to 911 services. The Aztek 5000S will interoperate seamlessly with any standards-based access system and provide standalone switching capability if the signaling link to the host switch fails. During normal network operation, the Aztek ESA system simply monitors the link between the access location and the host central office switch and does not introduce another potential point of failure into the network architecture. If the host switch link fails, the 5000S automatically detects the failure and becomes the active switch; completing all local calls and routing 911 calls to local pre-designated emergency responders until the link to the host switch link is restored.