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Chapter 1

Overview of the AG 2000 Board

1.1 Introduction
1.2 AG 2000 Board Features
1.3 Line Interface Signaling Modules
1.3.1 Loop Start Interface
1.3.2 Subscriber Loop Interface
1.3.3 Direct Inward Dialing (DID)
1.4 Software Components
1.4.1 Application Programming Interface
1.4.2 Runtime Software
1.4.3 Trunk Control Programs (TCPs)
1.4.4 AG Configuration File and agmon
1.5 Compatibility With Telephony Standards
1.5.1 Interoperability with MVIP-90

1.1 Introduction

This chapter describes:

1.2 AG 2000 Board Features

The AG 2000 board is part of the Alliance Generation family of telephony boards. It provides eight analog line interfaces with up to 8 ports of call processing and programmable voice processing.

Figure 1 shows the available AG 2000 board types:

Figure 1. AG 2000 Board Types
Refer to the NMS web site (http://www.nmss.com) for a list of countries where NMS has obtained approval for the AG 2000.

An AG 2000 board contains the following main components:

  • Telephony bus switching 

    
Switching for the AG 2000 board is implemented with the HMIC (H.100/MVIP Integrated Circuit). The HMIC is a single chip that offers full support for the H.100 bus within the MVIP architecture providing access to all 4096 slots on the H.100 bus.
    
On the AG 2000 board, switch connections are allowed for up to 128 full duplex connections between local devices and the H.100 bus. Non-blocking switch connections are allowed between local devices.
    
Figure 2 shows where these components are located on an AG 2000 board:
    
 
    

    

    Figure 2.	 AG 2000 Components
    

    
 
    

    • 

    

    1.3	 Line Interface Signaling Modules
    

    


    Line interface signaling modules are available for the AG 2000 board. A line interface signaling module is a circuit that connects a bidirectional transmission channel to separate receive and transmit channels. Each line interface signaling module has four ports. Two line interface signaling modules can fit on an AG 2000 board. This allows you to monitor and control at least 8 channels of signaling information. Figure 3 shows you where the line interface signaling modules attach to an AG 2000 board:
    

 
    


    Figure 3.	 Line Interface Signaling Modules on an AG 2000 Board
    

    

    Do not change any of the settings on the line interface signaling modules or attempt to remove the modules. They are factory installed and tested.
    


    The following AG 2000 line interfaces are available:
    

    

    

    1.3.1	 Loop Start Interface
    

    


    The loop start interface replaces a telephone, modem, or fax machine at the end of a standard telephone line or PBX extension.
    


    The loop start interface can also be a trunk interface to the telephone network. With loop start trunks, you may want to segregate incoming calls from outgoing calls to avoid collisions between the two.
    

    

    

    1.3.2	 Subscriber Loop Interface
    

    


    The subscriber loop interface connects to telephones, modems, or fax machines.
    

Note:	 Unlike other station intefaces that may be limited to 2,000 or 3,000 feet of cable, the subscriber loop interface can support a single telephone up to 18,000 cable feet away as long as the loop resistance is less than 1500 Ohms.
    


    The subscriber loop interface provides the loop current and ring voltage for signaling and powering the telephone. Therefore, it requires a ringing power supply. Refer to Section 2.6.2, Subscriber Loop Power Supply for more information about the power supply.
    

    

    

    1.3.3	 Direct Inward Dialing (DID)
    

    


    The DID inteface attaches to the telephone network for incoming calls and supports receiving dialed digits with each call. These digits can be used by a PBX to route calls to the desired extension and to route received faxes. The DID inteface requires special service from the telephone network and a block of telephone numbers to be received. The DID inteface requires a power supply. Refer to Section 2.6.1, DID Power Supply for more information about the power supply.
    

Note:	 The other end of the DID trunk may be an AG 2000 loop start interface. However, a TCP for that is not offered at this time.
    

    

    

    1.4	 Software Components
    

    


    AG 2000 applications are built using CT Access. CT Access is an NMS software development environment that contains:
    

    

    Figure 4 shows the software components of the AG 2000 board:
    

 
    


    Figure 4.	 Software Components
    

    
 
    

    

    

    1.4.1	 Application Programming Interface
    

    


    CT Access is a complete software development environment for telephony applications. It provides a standard set of telephony functions grouped into logical services. Each service has a standard programming interface. The CT Access ADI service includes functions for call control, DTMF generation and detection, and voice playing and recording.
    


    CT Access includes a Switching service which controls switching on
    H.100-compliant devices. This service is used to make or break connections, send patterns, and to sample data.
    

    

    

    1.4.2	 Runtime Software
    

    


    The runtime software consists of runfiles and DSP files. The runfile is the basic low-level software which an AG 2000 board requires to operate. DSP files enable an AG 2000 board's on-board digital signal processors to perform certain tasks, such as DTMF signaling, voice recording, and playback.
    


    Several runfiles and DSP files are installed with CT Access. You specify the files to use for your configuration in the AG configuration file (ag.cfg). When agmon runs, the runfile and DSP files are transferred from the host into on-board memory.
    


    For more information about AG configuration files and agmon, refer to Chapter 3 of this manual and to the AG Runtime Configuration and Developer's Manual. For more information about the DSP files shipped with CT Access, refer to the ADI Service Function Reference Manual.
    

    

    

    1.4.3	 Trunk Control Programs (TCPs)
    

    


    AG 2000 boards are compatible with a variety of signaling schemes, called protocols. To program an AG 2000 board for a specific protocol, a trunk control program (TCP) is loaded onto the board. The TCP performs all of the signaling tasks to interface with the protocol used on the line.
    


    Several different protocol standards are in use throughout the world. These standards tend to differ considerably from country to country. For these reasons, different TCPs are supplied for various protocols and country-specific variations. The TCPs are delivered with the AG CAS product.
    


    More than one TCP can be loaded at a time, for applications that support multiple protocols simultaneously. TCPs are specified in the AG configuration file. They are downloaded to the board by agmon. TCPs run on the board, relieving the host computer from the task of processing the protocol directly. For more information about TCPs, refer to the AG CAS Installation and Developer's Manual.
    

    

    

    1.4.4	 AG Configuration File and agmon
    

    


    When you set up your system, you specify configuration information for all AG boards in the system using an AG configuration file (ag.cfg). In this file, you specify whether a board performs MVIP switching or not, which board is the bus clock master, and which software modules to transfer to the board's memory on startup (including which TCPs to load). Chapter 3 describes how to create an AG configuration file for your system.
    


    To initialize your boards based on the information in the AG configuration file, run the agmon utility. agmon transfers to each board all software modules specified in the file, and performs any other configuration activities. Leave agmon running at all times to monitor the board(s) for errors and other events.
    


    Whenever you make a change to your AG configuration file, you must start agmon again to re-initialize the board(s) so that your changes take effect.
    

 
    

    

    

    1.5	 Compatibility With Telephony Standards
    

    


    The AG 2000 board resides in a single PCI bus slot and is designed to meet the latest telephony standards. The AG 2000 board interfaces to the H.100 bus with switching software compatible with the MVIP-95 Device Driver Standard.
    


    As shown in Figure 5, the H.100 bus is an interoperable superset of H-MVIP and MVIP. This allows integration of new H.100-based products with existing products.
    

 
    


    Figure 5.	 MVIP Standards Evolution
    

    

    For more information, refer to Getting Started With MVIP Switching.
    

 
    

    

    

    1.5.1	 Interoperability with MVIP-90
    

    


    The AG 2000 board is located in a PCI bus slot and connects to the H.100 telephony bus. MVIP-90 and H-MVIP boards connect to the MVIP-90 bus and are typically located in ISA bus slots.
    


    The MVIP Bus Adapter connects the H.100 bus to the MVIP-90 bus located in the same computer chassis, as shown in Figure 6:
    

 
    


    Figure 6.	 H.100 Bus Interoperability with MVIP-90 Bus
    

    

    The MVIP Bus Adapter allows boards connected to the H.100 bus to access the MVIP-90 bus, and allows MVIP-90 boards to access the first 16 streams of the H.100 bus. When connecting H.100 boards to the adapter, the first 16 H.100 streams must be clocked at 2 MHz, where each stream has 32 timeslots. By default, the AG 2000 is configured for MVIP-90 compatibility mode with the first 16 streams configured for 2 MHz.
    

 
    


    Figure 7.	 MVIP Bus Adapter Streams
    

    

    Refer to Section 2.5.2, Connecting to the MVIP-90 Bus for more information.
    


    

    

    


    
 
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