UTStarcom Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: UTSI) says it has successfully completed a successful proof of concept test of its software-defined network (SDN) technology with Tier 1 operators in Japan.
The company claims its technology, trademarked SOO for Software Defined Open Packet Optical Network, will radically improve network operations through automation and delivery of valuable new services for telecom and mobile operators.
UTStarcom conducted the proof of concept test of the new technology with the unidentified Tier 1 operators in Tokyo, Japan, on May 29 – 30, 2014. The demonstration showed how SOO can enable dynamic as well as pre-planned bandwidth on demand provisioning in addition to the provisioning of standard Metro Ethernet forum (MEF) Ethernet services and full Layer 3 IP-VPN service provision, the company asserts.
SOO is the result of an effort by UTStarcom's research and development team to create a suite of products based on SDN technology. The company initially unveiled and demonstrated SOO at OFC in San Francisco earlier in the year. The version used in the recent demo included new applications such as SDN provisioning of IPv4 and IPv6 Layer 3 IP-VPN services.
"The completion of the proof of concept is a clear demonstration of the fundamental and disruptive changes in network operations and service capabilities enabled through SDN technology," said William Wong, UTStarcom's CEO. "This technology allows network operators to better monetize their network assets by offering new value-add and dynamic services."
UTStarcom says its SOO Network product line will help operators migrate existing network infrastructure based on its TN700 series packet-optical transport platform (see "UTStarcom launches TN765 packet-optical platform") to an SDN-based environment. The benefits from the SOO SDN upgrade include: lower capital and operating costs, automated service provisioning, and the ability to deliver new bandwidth-on-demand and Layer 3 services that were not previously available on a deployed Layer 2 network, the vendor asserts.
"This is truly a major step toward bringing SDN into the wide area network," stated Dr. Frank Ruhl, managing director of Blue Ocean Networks, a telcoms consultancy and a founding member of the network functions virtualization (NFV) working group of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
Dr. Ruhl, who observed the test, says the "real breakthrough" is the ability to deliver full Layer 3 IP-VPN services for both IPv4 and IPv6, on an existing deployed Layer 2 packet-optical transport platform through a software upgrade and introduction of an SDN controller.
In future, UTStarcom says it will extend the SOO capability to its broadband access product lines including products for wireline, wireless access, and offload. The vendor also plans to develop further SDN applications and introduce higher layer services based on NFV.
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