Matisse Networks Introduces "EtherBurst" Optical Switching

Matisse Networks, a start-up based in Mountain View, California introduced its "EtherBurst" optical switching technology, which employs optical burst transponders that switch packet traffic in bursts at different wavelengths. Unlike current Ethernet-over-DWDM metro architectures, which rely on pre-provisioned point-to-point optical circuits, Matisse Networks is introducing a system that applies the principles of packet switching to the optical layer. Instead of dedicated optical circuits, the goal is a more highly efficient, layer 2 packet-switched photonic layer.



Matisse Networks is introducing a series of platforms for scaling metropolitan aggregation networks from 10 to 640 Gbps. The systems leverage very fast optical burst transponder that can communicate on any wavelength with every other transponder in a metro ring topology. This gives the "EtherBurst" system any-to-any Ethernet connectivity in the ring, eliminating the packet-circuit discontinuity encountered with DWDM and ROADM systems.



Etherburst relies on Matisse's patented 10 Gbps "Tango" optical burst transponder, which is capable of tuning and locking to any wavelength in the ITU C-band in nanoseconds. Matisse is using off-the-shelf, commercially available tunable lasers along with its own silicon and intellectual property. Burst scheduling, collision avoidance and quality of service (802.1 p and DiffServ) enforcement are provided by Matisse Network's patented "MeshWave" packet processor.



The switching architecture uses an optical supervisory channel that maintains constant communication among all nodes.



Matisse's product set includes two systems--the SX-1000 Ethernet Service Node and the PX-1000 Photonic Node.



The SX-1000 Ethernet Service Nodes support up to 48 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) or four 10 Gbps Ethernet (10 GbE) interfaces, along with one or two OBS interface modules (known as TAPs) containing the Tango and MeshWave technologies.



The PX-1000 Photonic Nodes provide the fully-automated, all-optical photonic layer. Up to 32 SX-1000's, each with two 10 Gbps TAP interface modules, can be attached to the dual ring photonic layer, yielding a total network capacity of 640 Gbps.



The system is currently available for evaluation and pilot projects, and will be generally available in the fourth quarter of 2006. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has tested the system.

http://www.matissenetworks.comMatisse Networks is headed by Sam Mathan (chairman and CEO), who previously was President and CEO of Amber Networks, which was acquired by Nokia for $421 million in July 2001. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Telco Marketing & Sales at Ascend Communications.

Matisse was founded by Claude Hamou, who previously was Executive VP and General Manager of Terayon Communications' Data Cable Division.

The company was founded