Press Release

SSB moves broadband providers from basic high-speed Internet access to a complete portfolio of business and consumer broadband services including IP VPNs, packet voice, video-on-demand, broadcast TV, gaming and music. SSB uses sophisticated QoS to blend packets from multiple services downstream over a single broadband customer connection, while intelligent switching and routing separate upstream traffic to different content or service providers.

"Laurel is delivering on the promise of next-generation broadband services today. By integrating SSB into the ST200 system silicon, we have broken through the architectural challenges of multimedia broadband service delivery," said Steve Vogelsang, Laurel Networks co-founder and vice president of marketing. "Broadband providers can now offer all types of multimedia-intensive, high-bandwidth services by integrating the ST200 into their existing infrastructure."

ST200 BRAS Software Module Key Features

Advanced QoS for Service Blending: Only the ST200 features the per-service queuing and shaping needed to guarantee delivery of delay-sensitive multimedia applications and high-speed Internet services on a single connection.

Integrated Routing and Switching for Service Separation: Unlike traditional BRAS platforms, ST200 integrated routing and switching provides the intelligence needed to separate packet streams across multiple content networks.

Highest Bandwidth-Per-Subscriber Enables Multimedia Services: The ST200 delivers the highest bandwidth-per-subscriber with advanced features enabled, a requirement to profitably deliver multimedia services to large numbers of users. The ST200 supports over 100,000 broadband sessions with classification, filtering, IP VPNs, multicast and QoS features enabled. The architectural limitations of other BRAS platforms restrict multimedia support or result in performance degradation as providers turn on advanced features.

Industry-leading Multicast Scalability Supports New Broadcast Services: With multicast support for over 500 channels and 100,000 subscribers, the ST200 is the first BRAS with the scale required to distribute a mix of broadcast video and audio channels to thousands of subscribers over DSL.

Integrated Bandwidth Control Simplifies Broadband Service Architecture: Integrated ST200 per-subscriber bandwidth control eliminates the need for external bandwidth managers such as ATM switches. The flexible ST200 also seamlessly connects into existing broadband infrastructures, allowing providers to immediately begin offering new broadband services.

High-speed Interfaces Enable High-Bandwidth Services: The ST200 supports ATM access interfaces at DS-3 through OC-48 speeds (critical for connecting to ATM DSLAMs), while Gigabit Ethernet interfaces provide connectivity to lower-cost alternative access technologies. The ST200 is the first BRAS with OC-48 and OC-192 uplinks.

Availability
The ST200 BRAS software module is in trials now with multiple broadband service providers and will be generally available in Q3, 2003.

About Laurel Networks
Laurel Networks is leading the creation of The New Service Delivery Architecture to enable profitable delivery of data and IP services at the edge of carrier IP/MPLS networks. Laurel's service edge routers and service management software are evolving carrier architectures from multiple data networks to a single packet-switched architecture with minimal capital investment. Combining carrier-class routing, data switching, advanced QoS and high availability, Laurel service edge routers support both routed and switched services. This unmatched service agility allows carriers to evolve their service portfolio to meet changing market requirements. Laurel Networks was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more information, visit www.laurelnetworks.com.