Zhone unveils residential gateway provisioning software

Zhone Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZHNE) has announced general availability of the Zhone Unified Provisioning 3.0 software for its zNID product line. Integration of Zhone's cloud-based provisioning software provides a single point from which to manage and configure an entire network while also reducing network management complexity, the company claims.

As technology continues to rapidly advance, home network configuration becomes more complex, and the roles of networked devices in the home have to evolve to meet bandwidth requirements. Zhone believes that the most cost-effective solution for residential FTTx applications is to deploy a GPON optical network terminal (ONT) that includes integrated residential gateway features.

Zhone introduced what it says was the first GPON ONT with integrated residential gateway features in 2007, and today its zNID product line includes more than 30 different GPON residential gateway models. Through Zhone's residential gateway products, service providers have the ability to extend network intelligence directly to the subscriber location resulting in fine-tuned performance and remote operations management, the company says.

Zhone's Unified Provisioning 3.0 software enables full pre-provisioning of all residential gateway features, including Wi-Fi SSIDs and encryption passwords, firewall and port forwarding rules, static routes, PPPoE username and password, as well as upstream and downstream rate limits. Additionally, it adds full configuration support for several interfaces, including TR-069, SNMP, Web GUI, and Telnet CLI, to reduce operational costs for deployment of dual managed GPON ONT plus residential gateway products.

"All FTTx service providers face a common challenge – to reliably and cost-effectively deliver voice, IPTV, video, and broadband Internet to residential users," said Brian Caskey, chief marketing officer at Zhone Technologies. "Zhone's residential gateway management solution provides service operators with maximum network flexibility for provisioning and troubleshooting."

For more information on FTTx/access systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.