Cell Relay Archive

["Cifelli, Raymond T (Ray)" <rtcifelli@lucent.com>]

My earlier email had the first paragraph missing, here it is again:

	----------
	From:  Cifelli, Raymond T (Ray)
	Sent:  Tuesday, December 22, 1998 10:09 AM
	To:  cell-relay@cell.ucs.indiana.edu; 'Josef Hutstein'
	Subject:  RE: MPEG over ATM


	AG Communications Systems, http://www.agcs.com
<http://www.agcs.com)>  makes a professional MPEG2 encoder/decoder with ATM
interfaces.  The product is called the ATIUM VIA 188.  The product also
received a favorable write-up in the October 19, 1998 edition of
InternetWeek magazine,  http://www.internetwk.com
<http://www.internetwk.com>   , page 72:

			     Atium VIA 188

	                 When we were looking for a high-quality video
solution for our second annual
	                 ATM test, we went to the industry for help. But in
this case it wasn't just the
	                 networking industry we asked. We also went to our
friends in the
	                 broadcasting industry and asked them who made the
best video to ATM
	                 codec around. The answer: AG Communications.

	                 So we asked the company to provide a pair of their
Atium VIA 188 devices
	                 for the test. We also asked for an engineer, just
in case. It turns out that the
	                 biggest reason we needed the engineer was because
ATM remains inscrutable
	                 for all but the true geeks among us. The VIA 188,
however, was not. While it
	                 was still subject to the whims of ATM, it remained
rock-solid and dependable
	                 throughout the entire test.

	                 While there were a few complaints, such as the fact
that the VIA 188 had
	                 trouble re-establishing a video stream after a
major outage (such as those
	                 offered in abundance by Hitachi when we were
testing its switches), this really
	                 was a professional piece of equipment. In fact, it
was so professional that
	                 some consumer devices that depend on things like
RCA connectors (like the
	                 ones you would likely find on the back of your
stereo) have trouble working
	                 with AG's products which require professional
connectors. Fortunately, we
	                 had adapters.

	                 The fact is that everything about AG's VIA 188 is
professional, so much so
	                 that it is clearly intended for life in a broadcast
environment. Because many
	                 broadcast engineers tend to be casual in their
treatment of equipment, for
	                 example, the VIA was built like a tank.

	                 Despite the industrial quality of its design, we
found the AG equipment easy to
	                 use and set up, and easy to implement into an
existing network (except the
	                 part about ATM, which is never easy). Right now
it's an ATM-only product,
	                 but more options are due in a few months. In
general, however, it's tough to
	                 say enough that's good about the VIA 188. It's
tough, reliable, produces
	                 perfect video, and it works. By doing so, it also
earns our approval.


	Ray Cifelli
	Lucent Technologies


		----------
		From:  Josef Hutstein [SMTP:hutstein@scn.de]
		Sent:  Monday, December 21, 1998 2:18 PM
		To:  cell-relay@cell.ucs.indiana.edu
		Subject:  CR: MPEG over ATM

		A short question:
		where do I find professional MPEG-equipment
(encoder/decoder) with
		ATM-interfaces ?

		Thanks, Josef Hutstein

		hutstein@scn.de