Wireline carriers were the first users of microwave radio systems for telecommunications, with AT&T transmitting the first U.S. coast-to-coast telephone call and first television broadcast over its “microwave radio-relay skyway” in 1951.
In the past 50 years, the mix of traffic over wireline carriers’ networks has, of course, changed dramatically and the introduction of fiber optic transmission has forever altered network architectures. Nevertheless, microwave communications remains a mainstay of wireline carrier networks due to its unique ability to: a) cost-effectively carry high traffic volumes over long distances; and b) extend access to buildings that do not have direct access to core fiber networks.
The demands on that backhaul infrastructure — microwave or otherwise — are changing, though, based on the steady rise in Internet traffic, increasing pressure to reduce both operational costs and carriers’ own evolving business plans, most notably the push to offer combined voice, Internet and video services.
Exalt offers an ever-expanding portfolio of point-to-point microwave radio systems designed to meet the high capacity multi-service delivery needs as well as the operational efficiency requirements of wireline carriers. Exalt systems offer:
- Native TDM and native Ethernet capability in every radio, ensuring the flexibility to accommodate any mix of TDM and Ethernet traffic, while meeting all application requirements for delay, jitter and availability;
- High system gain and low C/I characteristics;
- A rich set of Ethernet features such as VLAN and QoS, enabling easy integration into existing data networking architectures;
- Fully software configurable and upgradeable systems that minimize the need for hardware swaps and ensure that capacity can be inexpensively scaled when needed;
- A full range of in-band and out-of-band management options, including secure SNMP v3;
- Fully managed systems supporting web browsing, Command Line Interface, and SNMP (v1,2c,v3); and
- Monitored Hot Standby 1+1 protection.