Taqua Systems Inc., a Centerville, Mass., company founded one year ago, introduced a new
switching architecture called Open Compact Exchange, designed to provide what it calls the ‘missing link’ between
voice and data networks.
The telecommunications industry has been bombarded with various proposed solutions to
the issue of the increasing bandwidth requirements to support data transmissions. But at the edge of
telecommunications networks, where Taqua’s switching platform would be used, it could take decades for solutions like
Internet Protocol to be deployed, said the company.
Taqua said it believes switching eventually will become more
distributed with central office functionality residing at the edge of networks. In order to achieve successful convergence
with reduced network expense, proprietary remote switching modules, or limited feature small end offices, need to be
replaced with class 5 access and enhanced services platforms, said Taqua. There also is a need to integrate class 5
access functionality with enhanced services while providing the reliability of the public switched telephone network to
the emerging carrier IP/asynchronous transfer mode backbones, said the company.
“A new cost-effective and
flexible architecture is needed that leverages today’s network infrastructure,” said David Michaud, president and
chief executive officer of Taqua. “Our architecture is complementary to the existing voice and data networks and
offers carriers the first true class 5 convergence solution, including analog lines and subscriber services.
“We
can leverage this capability, as well as support packet data transmission and protocols,” said Michaud.
The
company’s strategy was to develop a class 5 access and enhanced services platform that supports both wireless and
wireline applications. Using Taqua’s architecture, the PSTN would connect with the Taqua OCX, which then connects
either to wireline subscriber equipment or radio base stations that are part of wireless local loop networks. Original
equipment manufacturers also could add a digital radio and software to create a small mobile switch, said the
company.
In addition to combining voice, data and enhanced services, the Taqua switch includes hot swappable
software to avoid down time when loading new code, for example, said the company. The OCX platform also includes
operations, administration and maintenance functions, call processing and billing capabilities and a programmable
application programming interface. A sliding API system allows customers to install portions of their existing code on
the Taqua switch, said the company.
The product is scheduled for general availability in June, following beta testing
during the second quarter.
Taqua, which took its name from the Inuit word meaning ’emerging with great force,’ has
received $5 million in venture capital financing and expects to arrange a second round of financing during the next
couple of months. The company has 32 employees, more than half of which are engineers.
