January 31, 2005 Hamburg, Germany and Sunnyvale, CA -- Infinera, which raised eyebrows last year when it introduced a Digital Transport Network (DTN) system product line that emphasized OEO conversion, has announced that freenet, a German ISP, has been operating a nationwide network of Infinera DTNs since last December. This network serves as the backbone of freenet's IP service offerings and is carrying live traffic today, according to Infinera.
Rick Dodd, product marketing director at Infinera, and Serge Melle, the company's vice president, network architecture, say that freenet is using DTN equipment for a multi-wavelength, 1,800-km core backbone network that will support DSL and voice service offerings. The network will provide both 2.5-Gbit/sec and 10-Gigabit Ethernet transport of meshed core and hubbed regional IP trunks. The network links the German cities of Dusseldorf, Hannover, Magdeburg, Leipzig, Nurnberg, and Frankfurt.
The DTN takes advantage of what Infinera's "Digital Optical Networking" technology, in which photonic integrated circuits enable a single IC to perform multiple functions electrically that would require numerous components to do optically. The reduced cost upsets the normal economic paradigm of OEO conversion, the company says. Thus, the DTN can perform add/drop, switching, and transport at a 10-Gbit/sec line rate at any point in the network, much the way SONET/SDH systems can. Thus, network architects can design their architectures in a more flexible, digital fashion than current photonic systems would allow.
Freenet responded to the flexibility and cost-effectiveness the DTN provides, the Infinera representatives say. In a press release, the company quoted Bodo Rebetge, head of technology and strategy for freenet, as saying, "freenet is always looking for technology which can give us a competitive edge, and this is why we selected Infinera. As we continue to grow, the flexibility and responsiveness of our optical backbone will help us add customers and high-bandwidth services more easily and quickly than the competition can."
The Infinera DTN is also easy to install, Dodd and Melle say. "This was the best, smoothest system turn-up and deployment I've seen," said Andreas Jürgensen, head of networks for freenet, in the same press release. "Infinera systems really are easier and faster to deploy than other vendors, taking only three days to turn up the first 700-km route. The Digital Optical Networking architecture makes the Infinera DTN very 'plug and play.' We are very satisfied with Infinera's solution."
The Infinera DTN supports 400 Gbit/sec, (forty 10-Gbit/sec channels) in a half rack and 800 Gbits/sec (eighty 10-Gbit/sec channels) in a full rack. 100-Gbit/sec line cards support a variety of hot-swappable client interfaces including OC-192/STM-64, OC-48/STM-16, 10-Gigabit Ethernet LAN PHY and WAN PHY (Dodd says that the LAN PHY is significantly more popular), and Gigabit Ethernet. The DTN also supports automated network discovery, configuration, and provisioning via GMPLS.
While freenet is Infinera's first announced customer, it's not the vendor's only one, Dodd and Melle say. Details on additional deployments are said to be forthcoming, perhaps as soon as March.
-- S. Hardy