RAD’s Compact Multiplexer Provides Emergency ISDN Telephone Network along Swiss Underground Highway

Drivers in distress on the new A5 highway in western Switzerland don't need to worry about being stranded. The road, built mainly underground to preserve the natural beauty of the region, will be equipped with an emergency telephone system. The telephones will be installed every 150 meters (500 feet) along the length of the tunnel that makes up the major portion of the road and will link callers to a highway emergency center. The highway authority of La Republique et Canton de Neuchatel has awarded the tender for the emergency telephone network to Ascom, a leading international telecom equipment manufacturer and systems integrator. The road is scheduled to be opened by May 2002, in time for the Expo.02 National Exhibition in the Three Lakes region.

"The highway authority required ISDN telephones connected over fiber," explains Mr. Roland Sauterel, Highway Systems Project Manager at Ascom. "We won the contract to install the entire system: telephone units, PBXs and the control system. We elected to install RAD's Megaplex-2104 at each telephone site because of its support for ISDN in a fiber ring topology and its compact size. The Megaplex is an effective, modular unit with RJ-45 connectors for HS-S connectivity," he continues. "We are confident in our decision to choose the Megaplex, judging from our positive experience working with RAD's local distributor DeltaNet and RAD's Kilomux multiplexer," affirms Sauterel.

The telephone network will be comprised of several rings, with up to five remote telephone units in each ring, connected to a central site. "The Megaplex-2104 also fulfills the customer's request for identical equipment at all sites," says Sauterel. RAD's 2U high, modular, scalable product can be configured to support up to 60 ISDN channels.

 

"Though small in size, it is robust enough to serve the central sites," states Sauterel. Moreover, its automatic database flip automatically reroutes calls in case of failure on any portion of the ring. This reliability and resilience is vital in an emergency services network.

 

The Megaplex units performed well in the pilot test of a 5-telephone ISDN ring. The highway authority of La Republique et Canton de Neuchatel has ordered approximately 130 Megaplex devices for the first phase of this project, with an additional 50 units to be ordered for the second phase.