Mike Capuano, product-marketing manager for the edge portfolio group at Juniper (Sunnyvale, Calif.), said the ERX 310, a three-slot E-series router with a 10-Gbit/second backplane, is intended for port aggregation in less-dense access environments than those for which the ERX 1440 or M-series routers are designed. Juniper could target existing large carriers with rural accounts, or special small alternative players. In theory, special configurations of the ERX 310 might be offered for hardened remote terminals or multitenant buildings, though that would be a future capability for the new system.

The ERX 310 router will debut in late summer and early fall, along with some new hardware and software features, the company said.

To augment access services and include DSL access multiplexers based on Ethernet within its capabilities, Juniper is offering a new Ethernet Services physical interface card (PIC) for the M-series routers, giving users a choice of Ethernet, an ATM services PIC or a channelized-services PIC, to handle all common traffic types for aggregation. The Ethernet card is offered in single-port and dual-port versions, using a new ASIC called the Q-Performance Processor, which handles separate quality-of-service (QoS) parameters for each Ethernet virtual private network session.

For DSLAM interfaces, Juniper is updating its older Ethernet-DSLAM link based on Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet, which required special client software. Now, a dynamic subscriber interface for Ethernet DSLAMs allows clientless log-in to DSL services, using a local DHCP server with any Windows-based client.

Plenty of new software capabilities are on tap as part of the "service-built edge" BRAS initiative. Juniper has worked with Microsoft Corp. on a special application admission control software module for its SDX-500 service deployment system. Originally developed for the Windows Media Server environment, the admission-control software works much like a call admission control function in an ATM network, Capuano said, making sure that network resources are available for the appropriate QoS level demanded, before application-level services are granted.

Juniper's J-Flow accounting package, for fine-grained billing of QoS services, uses the adaptive-services PIC card to sample every packet in the system, building a state table of header attributes such as source address and destination address, to make sure that accurate billing can be maintained based on packets used and service quality levels assigned.

Finally, Juniper is upgrading its virtual private LAN services to offer a full suite of multipoint-oriented VPLS nets based on Layer 2 Martini and Kompella draft standards. The addition of VPLS Kompella utilizes Border Gateway Protocol for VPLS signaling and supports VPLS services between router autonomous systems, the only inter-AS service offered to date.

Capuano said he expects tougher competition in access-aggregation markets following BRAS-related announcements at the Supercomm show from Cisco, Redback Systems and Laurel Networks. But Juniper does not expect any near-term claims to the BRAS throne.

"You're seeing some reinvented edge-routing platforms that have emerged since the conceptual architectures of 1999-2000, but it's putting on BRAS as an afterthought," Capuano said. "We believe that since we began with an architecture that integrated BRAS functions into hardware, we can continue to scale new router functionality to keep a significant lead over the other vendors discovering BRAS."

http://www.eet.com