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Chapter 1

Overview of the AG 4000C Board

1.1 Introduction

1.2 AG 4000C Board Features

1.3 Software Components

: 1.3.1 Application Programming Interface
: 1.3.2 Runtime Software
: 1.3.3 Trunk Control Programs (TCPs)
: 1.3.4 AG Configuration File and agmon

1.4 Compatibility With Telephony Standards

1.1 Introduction

This chapter describes: The AG 4000C board and its capabilities The software components you need to build an application using an AG 4000C board The evolution of telephony standards

1.2 AG 4000C Board Features

The AG 4000C board is part of the Alliance Generation family of telephony boards. It is available in configurations with two or four T1 or E1 trunks. 1600 to 4800 MIPS configuration are available for voice processing. A variety of applications are supported. These include 120 ports of IVR and fax or 60 ports of NMS Fusion.
Refer to the NMS web site (http://www.nmss.com) for a list of available AG 4000C configurations and for a list of countries where NMS has obtained approval for the AG 4000C board.
An AG 4000C board contains the following main components: DSP resources Each board has 16 high-performance digital signal processors (DSPs) which provide resources for 120 ports of call processing and programmable voice processing. Each DSP supports one or more tasks. These tasks include voice recording and playback, DTMF detection and generation, and call progress analysis. Fax and NMS Fusion are supported on an AG 4000C board. The AG 4000C/3200 T and E boards are shipped with a daughterboard which has an additional 16 high-performance digital signal processors (DSPs). CPCI bus connectivity Each AG 4000C board is designed to reside in a single CompactPCI bus slot. Each board contains a 5 volt CompactPCI bus interface compliant with the CompactPCI specification, version 2.1. The CompactPCI interface is a 33 Mhz, 32-bit target device. Trunk connectivity Each board contains T1 or E1 network interfaces for digital trunk connectivity. H.110 bus connectivity The AG 4000C board fully supports the H.110 bus specification. The H.110 bus allows boards to share data and signaling information with other boards on the H.110 bus. For example, you can connect two or more AG 4000C boards for applications that perform trunk-to-trunk switching. You can use H.110 compatible products from other manufacturers with the AG 4000C board. Telephony bus switching Switching for the AG 4000C board is implemented with the T8100A. The T8100A is a single chip that offers full support for the H.110 bus within the H.110 architecture providing access to all 4096 slots on the H.110 bus. On the AG 4000C board, switch connections are allowed for up to 128 full duplex connections between local devices and the H.110 bus. Non-blocking switch connections are allowed between local devices. Figure 1 shows where these components are located on an AG 4000C board: Figure 1. AG 4000C Board Equipped With Front I/O
Figure 2 shows where these components are located on an AG 4000C board that is equipped with rear I/O: Figure 2. AG 4000C Board Equipped With Rear I/O
Figure 3 shows where these components are located on a rear panel I/O transition board. A rear panel I/O transition board is used if you are installing an AG 4000C board that is designed for rear panel I/O. Figure 3. Rear Panel I/O Transition Board

1.3 Software Components

AG 4000C applications are built using CT Access. CT Access is an NMS software development environment that contains: Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that perform call control, voice store and forward, and switching. Runtime software that controls the AG 4000C board. One or more trunk control programs (TCPs) that allow applications to communicate with the network using the signaling schemes (protocols) used on the trunk. An AG configuration file that determines how agmon initializes the AG 4000C board driver to configure the boards.
Figure 4 shows the software components of the AG 4000C board: Figure 4. Software Components

1.3.1 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.
CT Access includes the ADI service which has functions for call control, DTMF generation and detection, and voice playing and recording.
CT Access also includes a Switching service which controls switching on H.110-compliant devices. This service is used to make or break connections, to send patterns, and to sample data.

1.3.2 Runtime Software

The runtime software consists of runfiles and DSP files. The runfile is the basic low-level software which an AG 4000C board requires to operate. DSP files enable an AG 4000C 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.

1.3.3 Trunk Control Programs (TCPs)

AG 4000C boards are compatible with a variety of signaling schemes, called protocols. A Trunk Control Program (TCP) performs all of the signaling tasks to interface with the protocol used on a channel.
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.
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 the TCPs shipped with CT Access, refer to the AG CAS for Natural Call Control Installation and Developer's Manual.

1.3.4 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 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.

1.4 Compatibility With Telephony Standards

The AG 4000C board resides in a single CompactPCI bus slot and is designed to meet the latest telephony standards. The AG 4000C board interfaces to the H.110 bus with switching software compatible with the MVIP-95 Device Driver Standard. Figure 5. Standards Evolution
The H.100 specification is targeted to PCI boards. The H.110 specification is targeted to CompactPCI products. The H.110 specification is a functional superset of the H.100 specification. There are electrical differences between H.100 and H.110 due to the differences between the H.100 ribbon cable and the H.110 backplane.

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