Press Release

The ST200 is custom designed for service edge routing, with a powerful combination of industry-leading density, high speed routing and service-enabling features that add value to network bandwidth. The innovative ST200 system architecture is edge-optimized with all major routing and forwarding functions distributed throughout the system to meet the significant per-customer delivery and billing requirements of scalable edge services. To deliver services that support explicit customer bandwidth and service level requirements, the ST200 offers per-customer routing tables, traffic shaping, class-based queuing and differentiated services (IETF diffserv). An extensive range of hardware-based counters collect the statistics needed by service providers to correlate service delivery with service billing, ensuring that each customer gets exactly the service paid for - nothing more, nothing less.

The ST200 is a major breakthrough for service providers looking for the solution that combines rich connectivity with high capacity IP-based services. Laurel's customers can now deploy a single IP/MPLS infrastructure that increases services revenue through a wide variety of creative service offerings that capture the value of the service to the customer:
. Dedicated Internet access with differentiated service levels

. Destination-sensitive billing with flexible pricing based on traffic destination and driven by BGP-4 policy

. On net/off net services that offers preferential treatment and rates to traffic within a service provider's network

. Bundled peering and transit to maximize the business relationship between service providers

. Long-Haul Ethernet over MPLS for cost-effective WAN connectivity.
ATM and Frame Relay over MPLS to extend the capacity and reach of existing layer 2 services

. Provider-based IP VPNs that offer each customer a secure network over a shared IP/MPLS infrastructure

The flexibility and cost effectiveness of the ST200 is demonstrated through 'any service on any port at any speed'. A single ST200 line card can simultaneously support any combination of DS-3 through OC-48 running any type of service (Frame Relay, ATM, POS, PPP, or TDM). The result is lower entry and maintenance costs and better utilization of router ports. Adjustments to changes in traffic patterns and customer demand are made without additional expenditures in capital equipment, taking the risk out of capacity planning and accelerating service provisioning and delivery. Provisioning is further enhanced through a centralized management and provisioning system that significantly reduces system outages.

"The ST200 service edge router from Laurel Networks is built for the network edge and includes the key features required at the edge: density and capacity," said Chris Nicoll, Vice President for Telecom Infrastructure at Current Analysis. "Its distributed architecture and critical per-customer traffic management and accounting give service providers a purpose built platform for the edge."

"Designed from the beginning to support the world's largest service provider networks, the ST200 will have a dramatic impact on service provider profitability," said Atul Bansal, President and CEO of Laurel Networks. "The services we enable increase the value of bandwidth, while concentrating all investments in a single IP/MPLS backbone."

Laurel Networks will begin lab trials of the ST200 with several Tier 1 service providers in June 2001. Software trials of the ST200 Routing Control System have been ongoing over the last six months. At SuperComm 2001 (Atlanta, GA, June 4-7, 2001), the company will showcase a fully functional demonstration of the ST200 service edge router in an IP/MPLS network. Laurel Networks will be located in Booth 1756/Hall B in the Georgia World Congress Center.

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. The Laurel ST200 service edge router is designed for the edge of an IP/MPLS network, and 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.