The LACE project has developed and implemented a broadband Customer Premises Network, including ATM switching and Gigabit LAN elements, and runs practical applications in co-operation with real users. The aim is to show that the business CPN concept of RACE I projects R1011 and R1035 was not only feasible in terms of physical implementation, but also capable of providing real applications and essential user access to IBC services, thereby extending the results of RACE I and ESPRIT.

LACE contributes to selected areas relevant to the RACE II Workplan and of major interest for the applications: provision of connectionless services; signalling and call control; traffic and congestion control; interworking between LANs and ATM networks.
The main aim of the research was to develop and implement a broadband customer premises network (CPN) including asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switching and gigabit local area network (LAN) elements, and to run practical applications in cooperation with real users. The specific aim was to show that the business CPN is not only feasible in terms of physical implementation, but is also capable of providing real applications and essential user access to integrated broadband communications (IBC) services.

The research was split into 3 main areas:
the system concept work package dealing with connectionless and isochronous services, signalling and call control, communication management and interworking;
the demonstrator implementation work package;
identification of a suitable application to run on the demonstrator and of a nontechnical end user to assist with the detailed definition and subsequence evaluation of the application.

Achievements of the research include:
taking a decision to implement the approach to a connectionless service on the basis of partial connections;
definition of the demonstrator architecture;
selection of the end user (Ashmolean Museum of Oxford University);
definition of the application requirements;
identification and specifications of IWUs is in progress;
the control network architecture is under definition, while the protocol for management has been selected and the basic functions are being specified.
Technical Approach

The activity was split into three main areas which cover studies, demonstrator development and an application.

- The System Concept work package has worked on four important areas, first for the specific use of the other two work packages and then in general terms for the industry and standards community. The four areas are connectionless services, signalling and call control, traffic and congestion control, and LAN-to-ATM interworking.
- The Demonstrator Implementation work package has based its work on the above studies. The basic structure of the LACE demonstrator has been worked out in this work package.
- The third work package has developed a suitable application to run on the LACE demonstrator, based on requirements defined together with a non-technical end-user who is also contributing with provision of databases and evaluation of the application. This activity only continues in the 3-month extension of LACE in 1995.

Key Issues

- Requirement specification for the applications.
- Specification of the demonstrator and of the applications.
- Implementation of the demonstrator and applications.
- Evaluation of the application running on the demonstrator, by the end-user.
- Recommendations on provision of connectionless services, signalling and call control, traffic and congestion control and LAN-to-ATM interworking contributions to standards.

Expected Impact

The project supports the definition of standards related to the specific areas on which studies have been focused, either through RACE consensus management structures or by directly forwarding contributions to standardisation bodies.

The collaboration of industrial partners from companies addressing all the most complex issues of customer premises networks ensures that future choices for products will be based on a well balanced weighting of all the technical and economic aspects involved.