Table of Contents:

Definition and Overview

1. Introduction

2. Historical Overview

3. A New Architecture

4. The Next-Generation Switch

5. Flexible Deployment Options

6. Changing the Economic Model

Self-Test

Glossary

PDF of this tutorial

Definition
The next-generation network seamlessly blends the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and the public switched data network (PSDN), creating a single multiservice network. Rather than large, centralized, proprietary switch infrastructures, this next-generation architecture pushes central-office (CO) functionality to the edge of the network. The result is a distributed network infrastructure that leverages new, open technologies to reduce the cost of market entry dramatically, increase flexibility, and accommodate both circuit-switched voice and packet-switched data.

Overview
This tutorial explains the evolution of the next-generation switching architecture and highlights the superior features of this emerging technology.