Ciena Corp. at SUPERCOMM is unveiling a multiservice transport and service aggregation solution with software-configurable ports. The CN 4200 FlexSelect Advanced Services Platform supports SONET/SDH, ESCON, Fibre Channel, gigabit Ethernet, digital video and optical transport unit technologies at any speed up to 10gbps and on any port on the box.
This enables service providers to transition from TDM to packet-based services as needed with faster service provisioning, better network utilization and lower sparing expenses because there’s no need to keep an inventory of service-specific line cards.
According to Ciena, the CN 4200 delivers a 95 percent reduction in new service provisioning and/or service migration times from an average of more than 45 days down to two. The company says there’s also a 66 percent reduction in line card spares, based on having one programmable line card that can support multiple services and speeds versus individual service cards for each.
“This product creates the appropriate balance, so you can mix those services on the same platform and do it in a way that is flexible,” says Tom Mock, Ciena’s vice president of strategic planning.
Each port on the CN 4200 can be programmed to function as a transponder, muxponder, ADM or cross connect. The product allows several services to ride on the same wavelength by using the ITU standard known at G709, or “digital wrapper”. According to Ciena, the CN 4200 provides reduction in wavelength use of up to 78 percent as compared to competing ROADM-only solutions. At a later date, Ciena expects to extend the CN 4200’s current sub-wavelength ROADM capabilities with “Dynamic Wavelength Routing” reconfigurable OADM technology for full 10gbps wavelength services.
Generally available now, the CN 4200 – for which Ciena declined to provide pricing – already has been deployed by BT, part of the carrier’s “21 Century” network effort, and is in trials with other customers.
Swisscom, Switzerland's largest telecommunications provider, is currently certifying to deploy Ciena's CN 4200 to offer storage area networking services, including ESCON, Fibre Channel and 2gbps Fibre Channel in regional applications, to its large enterprise customers. "Ciena's any port, any service capabilities on the CN 4200 will bring new flexibility to our network," says Stephan Mueller, marketing manager of Swisscom. "Not only does the CN 4200 FlexSelect deliver low initial capital and minimal sparing costs, the platform's software programmable FlexiPort technology will make it possible for us to migrate our customers' services to higher speeds or even change the service type as demand changes – all in-service without requiring onsite interventions."
Mock says the CN 4200 originated at Internet Photonics Inc., a company Ciena bought in May 2004. But the product was created by Ciena and is based on the company’s new FlexSelect Architecture, which also was announced today.
FlexSelect is an evolution of Ciena’s existing LightWorks architecture, with which the company builds solutions for high-capacity, flexible networks. What LightWorks didn’t address, however, is how to “take bandwidth and turn it into something that the service provider can fill,” says Mock. “So FlexSelect adds more flexibility in a service orientation to LightWorks,” he adds.
The FlexSelect Architecture is comprised of three key components: flexible network elements and platforms that facilitate service migration, while protecting legacy investment and revenue; flexible embedded software that adapts to changing network and service requirements, and that includes an optical control plane that drives network automation and combines distributed programmable switching with wavelength agility; and flexible, intelligent network and service management features enabled through ON-Center, Ciena’s network management system.
The total solution allows service providers to do service modeling, planning, point-and-click service provisioning, fault management and performance monitoring with granular service level agreements. And multiple CN 4200s can be stacked to offer 400gpbs of capacity in a node that can be managed as a single entity.
Mock says while the CN 4200 is unique given its software-configurable/reconfigurable ports, he would generally put the solution in the same category as ADVA Optical Networking’s FSP series, Alcatel’s 1696 series, Lucent Technologies Inc.’s Metropolis Eon family and Nortel Networks 5100/5200 solutions.
