Vendors back switching standard

The General Switch Management Protocol (GSMP) standard being pushed by Internet Protocol (IP) switching company Ipsilon Networks has gained a few converts.

At Networld+Interop in Atlanta, Ipsilon, Fore Systems, and Sprint announced an agreement intended to push the IP-based GSMP as a universal standard. The group will produce a series of extensions to the protocol that will tie it natively to high-speed ATM backbones, Fore's specialty.

The GSMP standard essentially performs much of the grunt work in the maintenance of channels in an IP switch so that the router can perform at an optimal level. Ipsilon Networks has pushed the standard since its release in March. The protocol has been submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

The agreement is a win for Ipsilon in its drive to take its IP switching standards across the industry in the face of pressure from competitors like Cisco Systems.

As a result of the partnership, ATM networks may receive various guaranteed service packages with the native extensions, of particular interest to Internet access providers as they try to gain a competitive advantage by expanding their networks as they improve service reliability. Internal corporate networks may also see benefits in service and overall network performance. The extensions will natively determine priority levels in ATM networks during the switching process.

The group plans to make the ATM extensions to the GSMP protocol publicly available.