Alcatel-Lucent announced the worldwide commercial availability of its 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS), a metro WDM platform offering a "Zero Touch Photonics" value proposition. Alcatel-Lucent said its Zero Touch Photonics eliminates the need for frequent on-site interventions and provides a WDM network that is more flexible to design and install, easier to operate, manage and monitor, where wavelength services can be deployed faster and reconfigured according to more dynamic traffic demands.
The Alcatel-Lucent 1830 PSS features a fully tunable and reconfigurable (T&ROADM) architecture for wavelength switching, and integrates optical monitoring capabilities for end-to-end photonic traffic monitoring and fault localization at the wavelength level. Key features include:
- High-density multiplexer/demultiplexer (mux/demux) per network element (NE)/degree
- Wavelength Tracker monitors and traces each wavelength at any point in the network
- Static, tunable/reconfigurable optical add/ drop multiplexer (T/ROADM) with single-wavelength add/drop granularity
- Up to 44 wavelengths 100 GHz ITU WDM per fiber pair
- Support for the full range of network topologies, including ring, point-to-point and arbitrary optical mesh topologies.
According to the business case developed by Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs, a network built with the new concept of the 1830 PSS can expect to see a more positive return than one built with a fixed optical add-drop multiplexer. A baseline case of expected traffic growth yields a 94% improvement in net present value (NPV) of investment. Scenarios built using more optimistic and pessimistic traffic growth levels delivered similar results, according to the company.
"For service providers, controlling capital budget, network performance and operating expenses are just as important as building their revenue stream," said Romano Valussi, President of Alcatel-Lucent's Optics activities. "Based on Zero Touch Photonics, the Alcatel-Lucent 1830 PSS accelerates time to service, simplifies operations, and improves performance for better total cost of ownership."http://www.alcatel-lucent.com
- In 2007, Alcatel-Lucent acquired Canadian-based Tropic Networks, a developer of metro optical transport systems, for an undisclosed sum. This transaction builds upon the collaboration the two companies established in July 2004 with the Alcatel-Lucent investment and global supply agreement. Tropic Networks features a "Wavelength Tracker" technology that tags each wavelength in the DWDM layer with a unique signature that tracks, monitors and reports faults -- without requiring any additional DWDM transponders. This capability even distinguishing between multiple instances of the same color traveling through the network. Tropic said its Wavelength Tracker allows carriers to expand their optical services without adding unnecessary cost, yet still maintaining critical management capabilities. Tropic supports an IP-over-DWDM capability that allows third party transponders to be launched directly from the switch/router into the DWDM layer together with associated optical management and power control. A major cable operator has been using this IP over DWDM solution in their network for several years.
