Xorcom Astribank: USB Gateway for Asterisk PBX

Astribank is a versatile USB-gateway specifically designed for the Asterisk IP-PBX. Astribank supports all the common telephony interfaces for lines (trunks) and extensions: FXS, FXO, BRI, E1/T1 PRI, T1 CAS and E1 R2. The Astribank driver is a part of the standard Asterisk distribution.

Astribank is LAN-independent and supports TwinStar high availability.  Using Xorcom’s unique XPP technology, a single Astribank unit may provide as much as 32 analog ports, 16 PRI ports, and mixed analog and digital ports in the same unit, saving rack space and providing highly efficient and reliable way to create a hybrid VoIP PBX that supports traditional lines and/or extensions.

Connecting traditional telephony ports such as analog trunks and analog extensions (FXO and FXS) and/or digital trunks and digital extensions (PRI/BRI) to Asterisk-based systems may be achieved using different technologies.  Xorcom Astribank solution is a USB gateway that provides a versatile and flexible way to connect telephony ports to Asterisk IP PBX systems using Xorcom’s unique XPP technology.

Compare Astribank Modules:

Analog Modules Chart

BRI ISDN Modules Chart

PRI/ RA/ CAS Modules Chart

Astribank is fully native within Asterisk-based systems and unlike VoIP gateways, it is managed directly via the Asterisk PBX and not as a separate entity, and is completely LAN-independent.  Astribank also allows for features that are not supported in PCI cards and channel banks, such as high-availability and hot-swap, which significantly increases the reliability of the VoIP PBX system.

Benefits of the USB interface

The USB 2.0 interface supplied with the Astribank server guarantees a reliable, extremely high bandwidth, a hot-pluggable solution that is not dependent on LAN or a PRI PCI card. A single USB 2.0 port can theoretically support over 3,000 concurrent calls. The reliable, USB connection and Xorcom’s unique XPP protocol ensures capabilities such as reliable fax support, transparent synchronization between Astribank units, an auxiliary system interface, and more.

Software

Astribank’s driver has been included as an official part of Zaptel (now DAHDI) since release 1.2.4 (Feb. 2006), making Astribank integral with Asterisk systems. Today Astribank is tested with Debian and CentOS. While not regularly tested, Astribank is compatible with any modern Linux-based distribution.

Telephony

• Maximum number of built-in analog ports: 32
• Maximum number of E1 / T1 ports: 16
• Maximum number of BRI ISDN ports: 8
• Maximum number of telephony modules: 4
• Maximum number of telephony ports: 54 (E1 PRI/R2/CAS + 24 analog ports)