Aculab
Encyclopedia
Aculab is a privately held, UK-based limited company that was founded in 1978. It is a designer, developer and manufacturer specialising in enabling technology for telephony and communication products that are used in fixed line PSTN, wireless and VoIP networks. Aculab's products are sold worldwide through its direct sales organisation and also via a network of distributors and resellers. Aculab's international headquarters and R&D facilities are located in Milton Keynes
, UK, with important branch offices in Needham, Massachusetts
, USA and Munich
, Germany.
It was in 1991 that Aculab began to ship the first E1 interface cards for the UK and German markets. These PC ISA
form factor cards enabled PC-based speech processing products to be connected to digital PSTN networks. The expansion of its product capabilities to include the physical interfaces and telecommunications protocols (ISDN, CAS
and SS7) needed to reach a broader, worldwide market, helped to establish Aculab as one of the pioneers of the computer telephony industry.
Later, in 1997, Aculab introduced its own ISA speech processing board, the first of its portfolio of DSP
-based voice boards. And it was in 1998 that Aculab introduced a PCI product, the first combined trunk card and voice board – Prosody PCI. It was novel for its time, delivering up to 240 speech channels and 4 E1/T1
trunk interfaces on a single card at a time when the standard was 24 to 30 channels. A Prosody cPCI (CompactPCI
) version followed in 2000.
During 1993, Aculab introduced Groomer, a protocol converter that enabled interconnection between disparate telephone networks running incompatible protocols. In 2002, this product was relaunched as GroomerII, a signalling and media gateway that can be used for connection between equipment and applications deployed in TDM
and IP
networks.
In 2003, Aculab introduced Prosody S, a host media processing
(HMP) alternative to DSP-based voice boards, for IP-only solutions. Two years later, in 2005, Aculab introduced the first IP-centric media processing DSP board, Prosody X.
The ApplianX range of gateways was launched by Aculab in 2007.
Aculab Cloud was launched in 2011 and is a cloud-based telephony service platform. It allows a wide range of voice applications to be built using high level APIs - C# and Python.
and signalling products. Aculab's portfolio of signalling and media gateways includes GroomerII and the ApplianX range.
, H.323
, fax, conferencing
, narrow and wideband (HD Voice) codecs, and video. They also offer optional E1/T1 interfaces with CAS, ISDN and SS7 signalling and protocol support.
Prosody X variants can also be used with Aculab's protocol stacks to connect to SS7 networks for ISUP
and non-call related TCAP
signalling applications.
fax, conferencing, narrow and wideband (HD Voice) codecs, and video, under a software licence.
market. It enables connectivity between IP-based applications using SIP or H.323, and legacy equipment deployed in networks running CAS, ISDN or SS7 protocols.
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
, UK, with important branch offices in Needham, Massachusetts
Needham, Massachusetts
Needham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 28,886 at the 2010 census.- History :...
, USA and Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany.
Brief company history
In 1978, Aculab was a design consultancy involved in the music industry. Soon after the first microprocessors were introduced, it began to design and manufacture intelligent interfaces and controllers for computer peripherals. In 1988, Aculab turned to building analogue speech processing solutions for a number of clients, such as British Telecom.It was in 1991 that Aculab began to ship the first E1 interface cards for the UK and German markets. These PC ISA
Industry Standard Architecture
Industry Standard Architecture is a computer bus standard for IBM PC compatible computers introduced with the IBM Personal Computer to support its Intel 8088 microprocessor's 8-bit external data bus and extended to 16 bits for the IBM Personal Computer/AT's Intel 80286 processor...
form factor cards enabled PC-based speech processing products to be connected to digital PSTN networks. The expansion of its product capabilities to include the physical interfaces and telecommunications protocols (ISDN, CAS
Channel Associated Signaling
Channel Associated Signaling , also known as per-trunk signaling , is a form of digital communication signaling. As with most telecommunication signaling methods, it uses routing information to direct the payload of voice or data to its destination. With CAS signaling, this routing information is...
and SS7) needed to reach a broader, worldwide market, helped to establish Aculab as one of the pioneers of the computer telephony industry.
Later, in 1997, Aculab introduced its own ISA speech processing board, the first of its portfolio of DSP
Digital signal processor
A digital signal processor is a specialized microprocessor with an architecture optimized for the fast operational needs of digital signal processing.-Typical characteristics:...
-based voice boards. And it was in 1998 that Aculab introduced a PCI product, the first combined trunk card and voice board – Prosody PCI. It was novel for its time, delivering up to 240 speech channels and 4 E1/T1
T-carrier
In telecommunications, T-carrier, sometimes abbreviated as T-CXR, is the generic designator for any of several digitally multiplexed telecommunications carrier systems originally developed by Bell Labs and used in North America, Japan, and South Korea....
trunk interfaces on a single card at a time when the standard was 24 to 30 channels. A Prosody cPCI (CompactPCI
CompactPCI
A CompactPCI system is a 3U or 6U Eurocard-based industrial computer, where all boards are connected via a passive PCI backplane. The connector pin assignments are standardized by the PICMG US and PICMG Europe organizations. PICMG stands for PCI Industrial Computers Manufacturers Group...
) version followed in 2000.
During 1993, Aculab introduced Groomer, a protocol converter that enabled interconnection between disparate telephone networks running incompatible protocols. In 2002, this product was relaunched as GroomerII, a signalling and media gateway that can be used for connection between equipment and applications deployed in TDM
Time-division multiplexing
Time-division multiplexing is a type of digital multiplexing in which two or more bit streams or signals are transferred apparently simultaneously as sub-channels in one communication channel, but are physically taking turns on the channel. The time domain is divided into several recurrent...
and IP
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
networks.
In 2003, Aculab introduced Prosody S, a host media processing
Host media processing
Host Media Processing is a term used to refer to a telephony system that uses the millions of instructions per second of processing power on a general-purpose computer to process a telephony call’s media stream rather than use digital signal processors to perform the task...
(HMP) alternative to DSP-based voice boards, for IP-only solutions. Two years later, in 2005, Aculab introduced the first IP-centric media processing DSP board, Prosody X.
The ApplianX range of gateways was launched by Aculab in 2007.
Aculab Cloud was launched in 2011 and is a cloud-based telephony service platform. It allows a wide range of voice applications to be built using high level APIs - C# and Python.
Products
The Prosody product range includes Prosody X DSP boards and Prosody S HMP software. These are enabling technologies for developing a variety of voice, video, faxFax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
and signalling products. Aculab's portfolio of signalling and media gateways includes GroomerII and the ApplianX range.
Prosody X
These DSP-based media processing boards offer a range of functions and technologies including VoIP, SIPSession Initiation Protocol
The Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...
, H.323
H.323
H.323 is a recommendation from the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector that defines the protocols to provide audio-visual communication sessions on any packet network...
, fax, conferencing
Conference call
A conference call is a telephone call in which the calling party wishes to have more than one called party listen in to the audio portion of the call. The conference calls may be designed to allow the called party to participate during the call, or the call may be set up so that the called party...
, narrow and wideband (HD Voice) codecs, and video. They also offer optional E1/T1 interfaces with CAS, ISDN and SS7 signalling and protocol support.
Prosody X variants can also be used with Aculab's protocol stacks to connect to SS7 networks for ISUP
ISDN User Part
The ISDN User Part or ISUP is part of the Signaling System #7 which is used to set up telephone calls in Public Switched Telephone Networks...
and non-call related TCAP
Transaction Capabilities Application Part
Transaction Capabilities Application Part, from ITU-T recommendations Q.771-Q.775 or ANSI T1.114 is a protocol for Signalling System 7 networks. Its primary purpose is to facilitate multiple concurrent dialogs between the same sub-systems on the same machines, using Transaction IDs to differentiate...
signalling applications.
Prosody S
Prosody S is an IP-based, software-only host media processing (HMP) product that offers a range of media server technologies, including VoIP, SIP, H.323, T.38T.38
T.38 is an ITU recommendation for allowing transmission of fax over IP networks in real time.- History :The T.38 fax relay standard was devised in 1998 as a way to permit faxes to be transported across IP networks between existing Group 3 fax terminals. T.4 and related fax standards were published...
fax, conferencing, narrow and wideband (HD Voice) codecs, and video, under a software licence.
GroomerII
GroomerII is a signalling and media gateway, primarily intended for the service providerService provider
A service provider is an entity that provides services to other entities. Usually, this refers to a business that provides subscription or web service to other businesses or individuals. Examples of these services include Internet access, Mobile phone operators, and web application hosting...
market. It enables connectivity between IP-based applications using SIP or H.323, and legacy equipment deployed in networks running CAS, ISDN or SS7 protocols.