Ciena Announces Ethernet Aggregation and Switching on CN 4200

Ciena announced new G10 and G10X Ethernet Service Modules that deliver Layer 2 Ethernet aggregation, switching and transport capabilities on to the company's CN 4200 FlexSelect Advanced Services Platform family. Targeted applications for the CN 4200 with new Layer 2 Ethernet aggregation and switching capabilities include Metro Ethernet Forum-based Carrier Ethernet services, broadband aggregation for triple play and IPTV services and 3G wireless backhaul.


Ciena's CN 4200 is a WDM transport platform that offers on-demand programmability and support for any service. The CN 4200 platform allows network operators to groom, switch, and transpond a diverse range of client services, such as OC-3/12/48 and STM-1/4/16, GbE, Fibre Channel, FICON, and ESCON into higher-speed 2.7 Gbps (OTU-1), 10.7 Gbps (OTU-2), and 43 Gbps (OTU-3) transport streams. In addition, an "RS" chassis can function as a multi-degree Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (ROADM).


A new G10 Ethernet Services Module features 10 ports of 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet while the G10X Ethernet Services Module features 1 port of 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Both modules provide advanced Layer 2 switching including support for Ethernet Operations, Administration & Maintenance (OAM), Link Aggregation, hierarchical QoS and connection-oriented Ethernet features. In addition, the Layer 2 switching fabric of the G10 and G10X cards is fully distributed and available to traffic entering on Layer 1 ports in other modules on CN 4200 platforms.


Ciena said that as the volume of Ethernet traffic grows between the access and the core, significant cost and management burdens are being placed on traditional Layer 0/1 metro transport networks because they were not designed to multiplex Layer 2 Ethernet. An example of this is the migration of DSLAMs from ATM over SONET/SDH backhaul connections to Gigabit Ethernet to support IPTV and other triple play requirements. This results in the waste of the vast majority of new backhaul connections because the network is not aware that only minimal traffic may be running across them.


To address this issue, Ciena's MEF-certified CN 4200 platform is now Ethernet-optimized at Layers 1 and 2. By combining programmable service interfaces and robust OTN transport with the new G10 and G10X Ethernet Service Modules, the CN 4200 can aggregate and switch a large number of 10/100/1000 Mbps and 10 Gigabit Ethernet services into right-sized and efficiently-utilized OTN metro transport connections. This integration of intelligent optical transport and service-aware packet switching enables service providers to gain significant operational efficiency by requiring fewer, more-centralized routers with better port utilization, and reduces or eliminates the need for deploying standalone Ethernet switches in most aggregation sites.http://www.ciena.com