Wideband packet technology in the integrated access and cross-connect system (IACS)

The integrated access and cross-connect system (IACS) is an AT&T product based on the wideband packet technology. The IACS has two components: the integrated access terminal (IAT) and the integrated access controller (IAC). The IAC provides centralized control, operations and maintenance for a network of IATs. An IAT provides direct digital connectivity at 1·536 Mb/s or 2·048 Mb/s to customer terminals and to circuit- and packet-switched networks. It integrates voice, voiceband data, facsimile traffic, digital data, signalling, image and network control into packets of common format. It allows networking in both the circuit and packet domains, offers bandwidth on demand, and achieves graceful degradation of voice quality during congestion.