Grays Harbor Public Utility District Taps Exalt for Network Backhaul

CAMPBELL, CA--(Marketwire - Jul 19, 2011) - Exalt Communications today announced that Grays Harbor Public Utility District (GHPUD), a public utility based in Aberdeen, Washington, has deployed Exalt microwave backhaul systems to carry critical SCADA and automated meter reading (AMR) traffic from its substations to its main data center. GHPUD provides electrical service to customers in northwestern Washington and its network also carries two-way radio and 911 voice traffic for Grays Harbor county agencies and Ethernet traffic for Internet service providers.

GHPUD uses a combination of fiber and microwave to link its 22 substations with its main data center. While microwave systems have been in use at GHPUD for a decade or more, the District's technical staff was having reliability problems with legacy microwave systems at eight of the substations. The GHPUD team selected Exalt microwave systems not only for their high reliability but also because the Exalt systems can carry both native TDM and IP traffic.

"Our operations depend on the reliable flow of information throughout our network, and we wanted microwave backhaul systems that we could deploy and depend on," said Mark Forsman, communications foreman at GHPUD. "The Exalt systems have been totally reliable in all weather conditions -- they just keep running, day in and day out."

As configured for GHPUD, the Exalt systems carry 100 megabits per second (Mbps) of Ethernet traffic and up to 11 T1 lines. While the amount of IP traffic on the network is relatively small at this point, the Exalt systems offer plenty of scalability for new applications and traffic over time.

The Exalt Microwave Backhaul Product Portfolio
All Exalt microwave backhaul systems -- indoor, outdoor, and split-mount -- offer guaranteed link availability, guaranteed throughput and low, constant latency. Systems are available in world bands from 2 to 43 GHz and in capacities from 10 Mbps to more than 1000 Mbps per channel, providing a range of options to fit countless network applications. Designed to enable a smooth transition to IP, they offer native support for both TDM and Ethernet, and are fully software configurable and upgradeable. For easy and secure management using third-party network management systems, Exalt systems support SNMP v1, v2c and v3. Data security is provided by available FIPS 197-compliant AES 128-bit and 256-bit encryption that adds zero latency to the transmission. To simplify installation and maintenance, all Exalt systems feature an embedded manual and most include a built-in spectrum analyzer.

About Exalt Communications
Exalt Communications provides next-generation microwave backhaul systems to service providers, government organizations and enterprises worldwide. Exalt systems are designed to solve the network bottlenecks associated with the growing demand for IP- based voice, data and video applications and the resulting migration from TDM to IP-based networks. With a flexible architecture and universal product platform covering multiple market segments, Exalt provides a full range of microwave radio systems that meet the demand for cost-effective and flexible alternatives to fiber and leased lines. www.exaltcom.com