The definition of gateway is any location where the interconnection is to the PSTN, Internet and/or a corporate or other data center. Generally speaking the gateway is sometimes referred to as a hub. However, since the STM SOLANTE system allows for multiple “Hubs” and they are not necessarily large in size the concept of “Gateway” is used.

The SOLANTE system is designed for flexible full mesh, single-hop connectivity between any network sites, suitable for star, multi-star (multi-gateway), and mesh network topologies. Because of constant network synchronization and control via the shared DAMA control channels the SOLANTE system is able to establish and maintain simultaneous connections to multiple sites. In this way one SOLANTE terminal can establish a voice call to Gateway (1) another voice call to Gateway (2) while maintaining a data connection to another Gateway. Every data and voice channel is thus logically independent of every other channel.

Based on a national numbering plan, calls can be optimally routed to and aggregated at any one of several gateways (GW); the SOLANTE system places no practical restrictions on the number of gateways that can be supported in the network. When operating in a multi-star topology the system attains the same remote station cost advantages of traditional TDM/TDMA systems that are limited to star-only topologies, while delivering multi-gateway PSTN access. Multiple gateway operation enables a reduction in transport/service costs, improved network reliability (through geographical redundancy) and improved service performance. One of the key advantages of the STM SOLANTE architecture is that to a user or even more a service provider, the system offers tremendous flexibility by allowing for multiple gateways.