Front Page: Atrica to Demo 100 GigE Switch

Atrica Inc. (www.atrica.com) will demonstrate at SUPERCOMM for the first time what it says is the world's first and only 100 gigabit Ethernet (GigE) switch.

"The 10 GigE standard has been finalized, and we will be going 10 times faster than that," says David Yates, vice president of marketing at Atrica.

"If you have 10gig access with that standard, you would expect to see large ISPs and so on think about 10gig access to the network," he adds. "If that's the case, you clearly need a trunk switch going faster than that."

The A-8800, slated for general availability in the fourth quarter, is a carrier-class optical Ethernet core switch and can contain up to 30 10 GigE interfaces, nonblocking. The starting list price for the product, which is part of the company's 8000 family of metro-core optical Ethernet switches, is $50,000. The metro-core optical Ethernet switches support voice and data services.

Atrica will also demonstrate its other products during the show. These include the A-8100 Optical Ethernet Core Switch, A-2100 Optical Ethernet Edge Switch, A-5100 Optical Ethernet Aggregation Switch, and the Ethernet Service and Network Management System.

The A-8100 Optical Ethernet Core Switch is a 600gbps device that is NEBS3 compliant, uses DC power and is otherwise carrier-grade. It can network up to 30 10gbps links in a nonblocking fashion. (The A-8800 also has 30 10 GigE interfaces and has more slots, more interface capacity and supports a wider range of interfaces than the A-8011.) The switch uses MPLS to engineer SLAs for users in the core of the network. It delivers voice as well as data services.

The A-2100 Optical Ethernet Edge Switch, which provisions connectivity at the metro optical edge, offers a combination of Ethernet interfaces and Ethernet circuit emulation service (CES) at DS-1, DS-3, OC-3 and OC-12 rates.

The A-5100 Optical Ethernet Aggregation Switch, meanwhile, aggregates flows from A-2100s.

And the Ethernet Service and Network Management System (ESNM) is a telecommunications management network (TMN)-based network and services management suite that provides the management, control and fast provisioning service providers require for quick, reliable operations across their Optical Ethernet networks and integration with their existing operational systems.

Pricing for the A-2100 starts at $3,500. Pricing for the A-5100 begins at $1,200 per GigE port, and the A-8100 pricing begins at $15,000. All three products are now shipping except for the 8100, which will be generally available in the third quarter.

 

Router vendor Dynarc (www.dynarc.com) will demonstrate sensitive traffic without delay over a resilient packet ring-like connection that can manage fiber breaks in a ring without incident, thus rerouting data, voice (such as live VoIP) and video traffic on-the-fly, without jitter. Should a failure occur in the network, such as a damaged fiber-optic link, the intelligent system is backed-up automatically and traffic is immediately transferred to undamaged fiber.

NEC America Public Networks Group (www.necpng.com) will show the SpectralWave U-Node, a next-generation multifunction node that allows networks to aggregate, groom and transport SONET/SDH and IP traffic. The compact size and deployment flexibility of the SpectralWave U-Node make it applicable for virtually any access, edge or core application. The SpectralWave U-Node operates in next-generation mesh networks, as well as in traditional OC-12/OC-48/OC192SONET/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) topologies. In addition to supporting traditional TDM switching architectures such as 1+1, 1:1, UPSR, 2F-BLSR, 4F-BLSR, 2F-UPSR and SNCp, U-Node's large, nonblocking cross-connect fabric allows the system to be deployed as a grooming node. When used in a multiple ring network, a single SpectralWave U-Node system can serve as a fully functional node in two or more shared rings. In this application, U-Node performs cross-connection and path grooming for intra- and inter-ring traffic, thus eliminating the need for collocated add/drop mulitplexers (ADMs). This results in substantial cost and space savings over traditional network implementations.

NEC also will announce a collaboration with Xtera Communications Inc. (www.xtera.com), which plans to show its S-band eXpander, which it says is the first commercial discrete RAMAN optical amp for a DWDM system. Unlike erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), or erbium-doped fiber that works in the 1525- to 1610-nm range, RAMAN is not wavelength specific, says Paul Harrison, vice president of marketing. The company hopes to announce trial partners at SUPERCOMM for the S-band eXpander, which supports 96, 10-gigabit channels.

Launching its company and strategy at SUPERCOMM is LSA Inc. (www.lsainc.com), a free-space optics startup created by LSA Inc., a technical engineering and project management-consulting company serving the Department of Defense in the development of lasers and high-tech optics. Free-space optics, which can transmit from 50 meters to 4.5 kilometers, are yet another option for last-mile connectivity. Robert W. Frye, director of marketing and public relations for LSA Communications, says the company's solutions currently offer protocol-transparent transmissions at speeds of up to 155mbps. The solution consists of a 7-inch by 16-inch cylinder-shaped transceiver encased in cast aluminum. One unit is placed on the rooftop of any buildings being served. The company later plans to introduce remote network management as well as attenuation, which enable the network operator to automatically increase or decrease power based on weather conditions. The company's high-end systems are appropriate for ISPs, telcos or other service providers, while its low end systems can serve corporate or college campuses with multiple buildings. "Because fiber is becoming so difficult to get, network operators cannot get fiber fast enough, so they're using free space to connect links until they can get fiber buried," says Frye. Wireless carriers without enough licenses; network operators that need quick connectivity for emergency restoration; or network engineers running into RF interference in networking multiple high-rises might also consider free-space optics, he adds.

Pulsecom Communications Inc. (www.pulse.com) will introduce at SUPERCOMM the O3D3 Miniature SONET multiplexer, which is designed to interface with WDM 1550-nm or standard 1310-nm optics to provide a DS-3 port where and when needed. The O3D3 is small enough to provide multiple circuits from cramped remote terminal cabinets, virtually eliminating the need for large and expensive traditional SONET multiplexers. The Pulsecom O3D3 also allows operating companies to deliver T3 service at up to 80 percent less cost than legacy equipment while maintaining network interoperability.

VPI Virtual Photonics (www.virtualphotonics.com) is demonstrating its latest product, the VPIparameterExtractor this year at SUPERCOMM. Part of a suite of photonic automation tools, the VPIparameterExtractor automatically extracts complex model parameters, making virtual prototyping more realistic. This leads to reduced design risk, fewer design cycles, better product performance and reduced time to market.

Fujitsu Network Communications Inc. (www.fnc.fujitsu.com) will demo its FLASHWAVE OADX, to which it added 22-channel tunable laser capabilities in April. The long-haul system is capable of carrying 1.76 terabits bidirectionally. The addition is planned for the fourth quarter. According to a recent Yankee Group (www.yankeegroup.com) report titled "Stay Tuned for Tunable Laser," tunable lasers reduce the complexity and costs of networks, while capitalizing on dynamic bandwidth requirements. Tunable lasers increase network value by increasing network agility and laying the groundwork for next-generation optical services and packet switching. The Yankee Group projects that the worldwide market for tunable lasers will grow from $50 million in 2001 to $2.32 billion in 2005.

Metro-Optix (www.metro-optix.com) will demonstrate the ability of its CityStream protocol agile bandwidth manager to support ATM and TDM on the same port for the first time. It will also highlight the product's OC-192 enhancement, available in the July/August time frame. The initial release of the product, which is now shipping, is an OC-48 version. Also to be shown for the first time at SUPERCOMM is the vendor's element management system.

Luminous Networks Inc. (www.luminous.com) will be announcing on May 21 the PacketWave C Series, which is an upgrade to the PacketWave M Series, first introduced at last year's SUPERCOMM. With the C Series, Luminous claims to be the first and only vendor to combine several elements important to the MAN space in one box: DWDM, routing, Ethernet interfaces and TDM in a single platform. Key metro applications include: private line TDM transport, metro/private line ethernet transport, DWDM, and VPN service.