USERS GAIN EASIER ACCESS TO HIGH BANDWIDTH APPLICATIONS ON THE INTERNET AND
CORPORATE NETWORKS VIA NEW TECHNOLOGY

Communication and software vendors unite to propose an IETF specification
for bandwidth control

(January 4, 1996) - To help end-users get seamless access to high bandwidth
applications on the Internet and corporate networks, eight leading data
communication industry vendors today announced a new, collectively
authored draft specification. This new protocol, Bandwidth Allocation
Control Protocol (BACP), will help end-users simply manage multiple links
in a dial-up connection. BACP will enable bandwidth to change on demand
through a standard set of rules while minimizing the need for end-user to
be involved in complex connection configuration issues.

The protocol, especially useful in ISDN environments, also specifies means
for the dialed end of a connection to economically callback the end-user
using multiple links. BACP will work in conjunction with the existing
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) PPP Multilink specification (RFC
1717). As ISDN deployment grows, PPP multilink implementations are
increasingly common and users have a greater need for standards-based
interoperabilty for managing dynamic bandwidth. The eight BACP sponsors
working together towards this goal are Ascend Communications, Bay
Networks, Cisco Systems, Microsoft Corporation, Shiva Corporation, 3Com
Corporation, U.S. Robotics and Xylogics.

"PPP Multilink (MP) provides an industry standard approach for the delivery
of incremental bandwidth," said John Coons, principal analyst at
DataQuest.

"However, it lacks the ability to dynamically control multiple connections
in a standardized manner. The new BACP specification, when used in
conjunction with PPP multilink, will offer users the best of both worlds,"
added Coons.

An informational Request for Comment (RFC) on BACP is now in the hands of
the IETF and is based upon original work from Shiva Corporation and Ascend
Communications with technical modifications from all of the other
consortium members. The vendor consortium will also work together for
interoperability testing of their solutions in order to ensure seamless
connectivity for the end-user. This new RFC has also been submitted to the
IETF PPP Mailing List to facilitate broader feedback from other key
industry players to begin the formal standardization process.

Detailed information on the current draft is available through IETF lists
and ftp.shiva.com in the outgoing/eng directory.
 
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