Press Release

As an iLabs participant, Laurel Networks will demonstrate its Routing Control System (RCS) software interoperating with MPLS at the edge of an IP/MPLS network environment. The demo will highlight MPLS signaling protocols, including Label Distribution Protocol (LDP), the underlying mechanism for distributing labels between routers, and Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP), a protocol that enables edge routers and MPLS switches to establish Label Switched Paths (LSPs) with bandwidth reservations. In the demonstration, Laurel's RCS software will demonstrate Internet routing with BGP-4 and long-haul Ethernet transport across a multi-vendor IP/MPLS backbone.

"The iLabs demonstration at NetWorld+Interop is a great opportunity for Laurel to highlight the unique MPLS functionality of its RCS software," said Gerald DeGrace, Vice President of Product Management of Laurel Networks. "The ability to route both Internet and layer 2 traffic across a common IP/MPLS backbone is a huge benefit to service providers who want to consolidate all their traffic onto a single IP/MPLS infrastructure." Layer 2 transport over MPLS - including Frame Relay, ATM or Ethernet - is a key feature offered by Laurel's ST200 service edge router, extending the application of an IP/MPLS infrastructure to new services beyond that of current Internet access and transit.

"The iLabs is at the vanguard of network development," says Eduardo Pinheiro, technical program manager for NetWorld+Interop. "Only here can you see a real-world demonstration of tomorrow's networking technologies today."

About Laurel Networks
Laurel Networks is developing high performance service edge routers - routers designed and developed specifically for the edge of an IP/MPLS network. Laurel's solution supplies service providers with the combination of features that leads to high-value IP services: high capacity routing and switching; rich bandwidth management functionality; and high density, multi-service ports. Designed for the edge of an IP/MPLS network, the service edge router is deployed through a streamlined packet network architecture that offers intelligent routing at the edge and MPLS high-speed switching at the core. Laurel Networks was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more information, visit http://www.laurelnetworks.com.

About NetWorld+Interop
NetWorld+Interop provides networking, Internet and telecommunications professional buyers with a uniquely comprehensive forum for education and hands on products and services in order to make critical purchase decisions. NetWorld+Interop affords buyers from enterprises, carrier/service providers, and resellers/integrators the opportunity to experience live technology demonstrations firsthand. It's this focus on advanced, multivendor, multiprotocol, multiservice interoperability technologies and solutions that makes NetWorld+Interop the definitive networking event. For more information, contact Kimberly Heaney, public relations manager, at 640-372-6725 or kimberly@key3media.com.