TPARC Operating Firmware

The Network uses the ROSE switch software from the Radio Amateur Telecommunications Society (RATS). This software is a shareware product. TPARC has contributed a shareware registration fee to RATS.

The ROSE X.25 Packet Switch supports the global addressing plan adopted by CCITT and ISO. This plan includes a country code and a national network number. The ROSE Switch follows the numbering plan in use in the national X.25 packet switching network. Most packet networks follow the telephone numbering plan used in that country. North America used the telephone Area Code and Exchange.

This system allows a user to request a connection with another station without any concern given to the exact path the data will follow. This is in sharp contrast to the explicitly specified approach used by digipeaters. The user only has to specify the call sign of their entrance switch into the network and the exit address to reach the desired station.

The ROSE Switch may be configured with several paths to remote Area Codes or countries. Each of the specified links will be tried in the order they were specified to find an operational route. This is an improvement on several existing amateur systems which can only provide implicit destination routing to switches known by the source switch.

The telephone exchanges are allocated based on the population density of each area. A single ROSE X.25 Switch can provide RF coverage of many different exchanges. A full list of exchanges that the switch should handle as its own is specified.

The addressing also needs to support routing to different countries. The X.121 standard handles this with a prefix country code. In data networks the country code is called the Data Network Identification Code (DNIC). The ROSE Switch supports up to 8 different DNICs, and will be expanded as the network grows.

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