Date:  Thursday, January 18, 2007

Time:  7:00 to 9:00 pm
Location:  AT&T Laboratories (formerly SBC)

9505 Arboretum Blvd.

Austin, TX  78759

Topic:  The Mathematics, Methods and Procedures of Performing Reliability Analyses on Communication Networks
Speaker:  Paul A. Kaschube

AT&T Labs - Principal Member of Technical Staff

 

Abstract: 
It is an important objective for communication networks to be reliable. Vendors and carriers promote their networks as having five nines or better of availability. In this presentation we will discuss what constitutes a reliability analysis of a communications network. We will define the key terms of reliability and availability. We will review the basic mathematics involved in a reliability analysis and computer tools. We will review the Telcordia procedure for determining and assessing the reliability of telecommunications equipment. We will discuss building models to perform a reliability analysis. Finally, reliability analyses will be illustrated for a number of actual network.
 

Speaker Bio:

Paul A. Kaschube has his PhD in mathematics from the University of California San Diego.  He studied combinatorial mathematics which he has used in his career in the Bell System as a systems engineer. His first position out of graduate school was with the original AT&T Bell Laboratories where he learned packet switching working on ARPANET projects.  He then joined Pacific Bell working on a team that built the overlay high speed data network that now sets up all telephone calls using the Signaling System 7 (SS7) protocol. He then worked on introducing Frame Relay and ATM into the Pacific Bell network. After Pacific Bell was bought by its sibling baby bell Southwest Bell to form SBC, he transferred to Technology Resources Incorporated (TRI) in Austin to work on Voice over ATM which gave way to Voice over IP. For the last several years he has focused on fiber transport initiatives such as Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM). In all these diverse applications, he has used mathematical and computer techniques to perform network design, capacity, and reliability studies using modeling, analysis and simulation techniques. With SBC buying back AT&T and taking the name, Paul Kaschube is currently a member of AT&T Labs as a principal member of technical staff.