Frame Relay can be used as an interface
to either a publicly available carrier-provided service or to a
network of privately owned equipment. You deploy a public Frame Relay
service by putting Frame Relay switching equipment in the central
office of a telecommunications carrier. In this case, users get
economic benefits from traffic-sensitive charging rates, and don't
have to spend the time and effort to administer and maintain the
network equipment and service.
No standards for interconnecting
equipment inside a Frame Relay network currently exist. Therefore, the
support of Frame Relay interfaces does not necessarily dictate that
the Frame Relay protocol is used between the network devices. Thus,
traditional circuit switching, packet switching, or a hybrid approach
combining these technologies can be used, as shown in the Figure.
The lines that connect user devices to
the network equipment can operate at a speed selected from a broad
range of data rates. Speeds between 56 kbps and 2 Mbps are typical,
although Frame Relay can support lower and higher speeds.
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