Network Elements Inc. (www.nei.com) today unveils an optical module that enables products based on it to support 10 gigabit Ethernet, Packet-over-SONET (POS), and SONET/SDH applications. The new product addresses the need to enable service providers and their vendors to quickly and inexpensively support new protocols as needed, says Bruce Murdock, founder and CEO. The module can reduce the overall development cycle for high-performance optical equipment by at least six months.
The Lithium module is a subsystem that integrates optical physical layer, protocol-processing and software functionality to provide a complete protocol termination and monitoring solution for Layers 1 and 2 of high-speed optical networks. It includes an application programming interface and 2 million gate ASIC technology, all in the same form factor as physical layer subsystems.
The API provides an abstracted user interface for the more complex features of the module, such as SONET monitoring and packet filtering, automatically handling functions such as counter, table, and queue management. By encapsulating hardware details in software layers that present a functional interface to system integrators’ applications, the API is designed to reduce the time required to integrate the module into a host system.
The module will be available in November 2001 for $7,000 in quantity.
The company also has a mini-physical layer optical network module that it introduced late last month.
