[Asterisk-Users] Port density: DS3 cards?

[John Todd]

Obviously, there are no DS3 TDM cards that are currently compatible 
with Zap channels.  (or are there?)

Does anyone know of an inexpensive DS3 card that could perhaps be 
used with Asterisk if one were to try to port the Zap drivers to such 
a card?  PCI, of course, would be the bus of choice.

I think there are quite a few discouraging comments to be made on 
that question.  Firstly, most companies that produce telecom hardware 
have silly overhead, and thus the price of their cards is 
astronomical.  Secondly, most companies that produce telecom hardware 
are of the opinion that transcoding (compression) should be done via 
DSP's, which inflates the cost of the card significantly.  Thirdly, 
most telecom hardware vendors would not consider allowing their 
drivers into the public domain if such development were to happen. 
I've talked to some parties (you know who you are) who have expressed 
some interest in building this type of interface, but a situation 
where I can actually put my hands on equipment is far better than 
speculative interest by those who have not even decided to go forward 
with design, no matter how interesting the end product sounds on the 
whiteboard.

However, regardless of all these negatives, I'm interested in any 
vendors anyone can offer as a starting point.

Please, don't pester me with comments like "Why do you need 28 
PRI's?" or "You'll never use that much capacity."  Assume that I 
actually DO have that volume of traffic, and assume there are several 
dozen other people on this list (lurkers and active people) who have 
the same requirements, and assume there are hundreds more people out 
there who have the requirement but haven't considered Asterisk 
because DS3 isn't an option.

JT