Digium TCE400, TC400B User Manual

TC400 Series

TCE400 / TC400B

User Manual

601-00007 Rev. B3

445 Jan Davis Drive NW

Digium, Inc.

Huntsvil le, AL 35806

United States

Main Number: 1.256. 428.6000

Tech Support : 1.256.428.6161

U.S. Toll Free: 1.877.344.4861

Sales: 1.256.428.6262

www.digium.com
www.asterisk.org

www.asterisknow.org

© Digium, Inc. 2013
All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be copied, distributed, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a
retri eval s yst em , or t ran sl ated i nt o a ny huma n or compu te r lan gu ag e with ou t t he pr io r wri tte n
permission of Digium, Inc.

Digium, Inc. has made every effort to ensure that the instructions contained in this document
are ade q uate an d err o r free. The manufa ctu r e r w i ll, if n ec es s ary , expl ai n is su es w h ic h m ay
not be covered by this documentation. The manufacturer’s liability for any errors in the
docume nts is limi ted to the correctio n of errors and the aforementioned advis ory services.

This doc ument h as been p repar ed for us e by profe ssiona l and pr operly tr ained p ersonn el,
and the cus to m er as su m es fu ll re sp onsibi li ty w he n us in g it.

Adobe and Acrobat are registered trademarks, and Acrobat Reader is a trademark of Adobe
Systems Incorporated.

Asterisk, Digium, Switchvox, and AsteriskNOW are registered trademarks and Asterisk
Business Edition, AsteriskGUI, and Asterisk Appliance are trademarks of Digium, Inc.

Any other trademarks mentioned in the document are the property of their respective owners.

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Compliance Information

Compliance information for this product is available at
http://www.digium.com/ccs-compliance.

Digium, Inc. Page 3

Introduction to TC400 Serie s Documentation

This manual cont ains product information for the TC400 Serie s cards. Be
sure to refer to any supplementa ry documents or release notes that were
shipped with your equipment. The manual is organized in the following
manner:

Chapter/

Appendix

1

2

3
4

A

B

Title Description

Overview Identifies the features of your car d. This chapter

Card Installation Provides instructions for installing the card in your

Configuration Provides examples for configuring options.

Questions an d
Answers

Specifications Details card specifications.

Glossary and
Acronyms

covers applications and us es of the TC400 Series in
the re al w o r l d.

PC, acquiring correct drivers, and checking device
compatibility.

Explains resolutions to common problems and
frequentl y as ked questions per taining to card
installation and usage.

Defines terms related to this product.

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Symbol Definitions

Caution stat emen ts in dicate a c onditio n whe r e d amage to t he un it o r
its configuration could occur if operational procedures are not
followed. To reduce the risk of damage or injury, follow all steps or
procedures as instructed.

The ESD sym b o l in d i ca t es electrostat i c s en si ti ve d e vi ces. Obser v e
prec autions for handling devices. Wear a properly ground ed
electrostatic discha rge (ESD) wrist strap while handling the device.

The Electrical Hazard Symbol indicates a possibility of electrical
shock when operat ing this unit in certain situations. To reduce the
risk of damage or injury, fol low all steps or proc edures as
instructed.

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User Cautions

Power Source.

The outlet should be installed near the eq uipment and be easily
accessible.

Applying Power.

Use only the power cord, power supply, and/or bat teries indicate d in
the manual. Do not dispose of batteries in a fire. The may explode.
Check with local codes for special disposal instructions.

Installation

This car d is for use only with compatible UL Listed computers that
have Install ation Instructions detailing installation of car d cage
accessories.

Servicing.

Do not attempt to service this card unless specifically instructed to do
so. Do not attempt to remove the card from your equipment while
power is present. Refe r ser vicing to qualified service personnel.

Water and Moisture.
Do not spill liquids on this unit. Do not operate this equipment in a
wet environme nt.

Important Safety Instructions

Heat.

Do not operate or store this product near heat sources such as
radiators, air ducts, areas subject to direct, intense sunlight, or other
products that produce heat.

Static Electricity.

To reduce the risk of damaging the unit or your equipment, do not
attempt to open the e nclosure or ga in acc es s to areas where you ar e
not instructed to do so. Refer servicing to qualified service personnel.

Save these instructions for future reference.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Chapter 2

Card Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Chapter 3

Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

What is Asterisk®? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Asterisk as a Switch (PBX) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Asterisk asa Gateway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Asterisk in the CallCe nter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Asterisk in the Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Asterisk Everywhere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Unpacking the Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Shipment Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Slot Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Hardware Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Software Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Installing DAHDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Installing Asterisk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Chapter 4

Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

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Table Of Contents

Appendix A

Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Appendix B

Glossary and Ac ronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 5

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List of Figures

Figure : Sample Telco Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Figure : Sample Network Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Figure : TC400B Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Figure : TCE400 Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Figure : Motherboard Slots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Figure : Insert the Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

1
2
3
4
5
6

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List of T able s

Table A-1: Maximum Power Consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

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Chapter 1 Overview

The TC400 Series cards are a bundle of the half-length, low-profile
TC400P (PCI) or TCE400 (PCI-E) base card and the TC400M voice
processing module. The TC400 Series cards are designed to handle, in
dedicated DSP resources, the complex codec translations for highly
compressed audio as would otherwise b e processed by Asterisk in
software.

Asterisk, in software and with Digium® G.729a licensing, is capable of
transforming the G.729a codec into other codecs for th e purposes of call
origination or termination, bridging disparate calls, or VoIP to TDM
connectivity. These transformations in software are very expensive, in
terms of MIPS, and require a substantial amount of CPU time to
accomplish. A TC400 Series card not only relieves the CPU of this duty ,
freeing it up to handle other tasks or t o complet e additional call
processing; but also provide s Asterisk with the capability of bridgi ng
G.723.1 compressed audio into other formats, a capability not previously
possible.

The TC400 Series cards decompress G.729a (8.0 Kbit) or G.723.1 (5.3
Kbit and 6.3 Kbit) into u-law or a-law; or, compress u-law or a-law into
G.729a (8.0 Kbit) or G.723.1 (5.3 Kbit and 6.3 Kbit). The TC400 Series
cards are rated to handle up to 120 bi-directional G.729a transformations
or 92 bi-directional G.723.1 transf ormations. The TC400 Series cards do
not require additiona l licensing fees for the use of these codecs nor do

Digiu m, In c . P age 1 1

Chapter 1: Overview

they require the registration process associated with Digium's software­based G.729a codec licensing.

Features:

120 channels of bi-direct ional G.729a (8 Kbit) transcoding
or
92 channels of bi-directional G.723.1 (5.3 Kbit and 6.3 Kbit) transcoding

Figure 1: Sample Telco Application

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Chapter 1: Overview

Figure 2: Sample Network Application

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What is Asteri sk®?

Chapter 1: Overview

Asterisk is th e world’s leading open source t elephony engine and tool kit.
Offering fle xibility unheard of in the world of proprietar y
communications, Asterisk empowers developers and integr ators to create
advanced communication solutions...for free. Asterisk is r eleased as open
source under the GNU General Public License (GPL), a nd it is available
for download free of charge. Asterisk is the most popular open source
software avai lable, with the Asterisk Community being the top infl uencer
in VoIP.

Asterisk as a Switch (PBX)

Asterisk can be configured as th e core of an IP or hybrid PBX, switching
calls, managing routes, enabling features, and conne ct ing callers with the
outside world over IP, analog (POTS), and digital (T1/E1) connections.

Asterisk runs on a wide variety of opera ting systems including Linux,
Mac OS X, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and Sun Solaris. It provides all of the
features you would exp ect from a PBX inclu ding many advanced f eatu res
that are often associate d with high end (and high cost) proprietary PBXs.
Asterisk's archi tecture is designed for maximum flexibilit y and supports
Voice over IP in many protocols, and can interoperate with almost all
standards-base d telephony equipment using relatively ine xpensive
hardware.

Asterisk as a Gateway

It can also be built out as the heart of a media gateway, bridging the
legacy PSTN to the expanding world of IP telephony. Asterisk’s modular
architecture a llows it to co nvert betwee n a wide ran ge of communicat ions
protocols and media codecs.

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