Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Zarlink Gains Compliance for Circuit Emulation Processors

Zarlink Semiconductor announced that its line of Circuit Emulation Services (CES)-over-Packet processors fully comply with the latest recommendations for TDM circuit transmission over MPLS and Metro Ethernet networks. The MPLS & Frame Relay Alliance (MFA) recently released implementation agreement MFA 8.0.0, which addresses the encapsulation formats and setup and teardown of connections for carrying TDM circuits across MPLS networks. The MFA's new agreement simplifies TDM transport over MPLS, allowing network operators to move towards a single, converged network delivering voice, video and data services.



The Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) also ratified new technical specifications for carrier-class Ethernet. Specification MEF 8 defines the implementation for emulating PDH (Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy) circuits over Metro Ethernet networks, and outlines requirements for employing CES over Metro Ethernet networks as defined in the earlier MEF 3 technical specification. MEF 8, along with new specifications addressing test procedures and network management for Ethernet services, will guide the rollout of Metro Ethernet as a carrier-class service delivery technology.



Zarlink's three-device ZL50111 high-density and three-device ZL50120 low-density families of CES-over-Packet processors seamlessly "tunnel" from one to 32 streams of TDM voice, video and data traffic, with associated timing and signaling, across MPLS, Ethernet and IP networks. All six devices are in full production. http://www.zarlink.com