Allied Telesis, a leader in enterprise networking technology, has been selected by the United States Air Force as an integrated component of their new flight simulator mission systems development project at Edwards AFB. An aggressive, cutting-edge application using multi-surround Video displays in four separate and distinct simulator rooms, the project is expected to showcase the USAF facility for training fighter pilots on advanced flight systems.

"We went head-to-head against major networking competitors to win this contract," said Lisa Thompson, Allied Telesis vice president of enterprise sales. "We came out ahead in performance, features, and as an overall solution in video streaming and 'optimization fly-off format' in Air Force testing. Our consistent, outstanding software and hardware development in enterprise-level applications caught and captured the attention of this high-profile installation. This resulted in our being the best provider overall."

At the core of the installation, the Allied Telesis SwitchBlade x908 advanced layer-3 modular switch incorporates eight high-speed 60Gbps expansion bays, delivering scalable and versatile switching for demanding mission-critical applications such as the USAF simulator. SwitchBlade x908 is designed to be inherently reliable with the added ability of building highly resilient networks using Ethernet Protected Switched Rings (EPSR). Six 10-gigabit fiber uplinks support the high bandwidth and low latency required to provide bi-directional, uninterrupted video streaming necessary to accurately simulate flight. The SwitchBlade x908 incorporates the AlliedWare Plus operating system, using an industry-standard Command-Line Interface (CLI) to facilitate near-effortless manageability.

"The SBx908 was the best solution based on form factor, performance, value, and interoperability within the real time flight simulation video and data network backbone," said Samual "Joey" Biggs, software engineer with Symvionics, the engineering and technical support contractor to the Edwards AFB Flight Test Center.

Additional, detailed information on the SwitchBlade product line is available on the Company Web site, www.AlliedTelesis.com. Allied Telesis Inc. is an established global leader in delivering IP/Ethernet network solutions in the enterprise that connect users to voice, video, and data services. U.S. operational headquarters are located in San Jose, California.