OCTOBER 24, 2007 By Meghan Fuller -- Broadband access supplier Occam Networks Inc. (search for Occam Networks) has added GPON (search for GPON) to its existing BLC-6000 system.
In a recent interview at the Lightwave, office in Nashua, NH, Juan Vela, Occam Networks' director of strategic products and markets, noted that the company's GPON technology features "standard feeds and speeds," including 2.5-Gbit/sec downstream and 1.25-Gbit/sec upstream capacity. In fact, he said, there is nothing special about the company's GPON, which leverages assets it acquired from Terawave.
Where the company differentiates itself is in its ability to integrate GPON as a blade in its existing BLC-6000 chassis, enabling customers to incorporate both Active Ethernet and GPON into their access networks. With this new suite of products, Occam says it merges 10-Gigabit Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, ADSL 2+, DS1, HPNA, RF video, Ethernet, VoIP, POTS, and now GPON. Everything is integrated with a unified backhaul and a single set of shelves and enclosures and managed by OccamView EMS, says the company.
Occam Networks also hangs its hat on what it calls its Occam Packet Engine, which was developed specifically to support the massive Ethernet and IP processing that triple-play networks will require and is the cornerstone of its GPON offering. Using this chip, a single OLT blade can switch packets at a multi-gigabit per second rate; perform deep packet inspection on up to 29million packets per second; manage 2,048 data streams; and deliver hardware-based QoS, security, and multicast management, says the company.
The typical DSL connection can support two to four services and 100 to 200 service flows per blade, reported Vela. A typical GPON connection, by contrast, must support a couple thousand service flows per blade, requiring "a lot of horsepower on the blade itself," he explained. That horsepower comes courtesy of the Occam Packet Engine, which Vela confirmed is the result of custom work with silicon provider Athernity. But, he said, all the software and packet inspection tools are "homegrown Occam."
Unlike access systems that layer GPON onto older, ATM-based technology, the Occam system supports full line-rate bandwidth for every GPON port simultaneously, both inter-blade and into the backhaul, says the company. This is critical for high IP-HDTV on-demand take rates. Occam says its highly resilient Ethernet backhaul rings--unlike SONET--use all backhaul links in normal operation, loadshifting immediately and gracefully on link failure.
Occam's initial GPON products will include:
• The BLC 6322 OLT: four GPON ports. A single Occam BLC 6012 shelf will support up to 48 GPONs.
• The ON 2442 ONT: single family residence, two POTS and four Ethernet ports.
• The ON 2444 ONT: single family residence, two POTS and four Ethernet ports, and 1555-nm RF broadcast.
• The ON 2445 ONT: single family residence, two POTS and four Ethernet ports, 1555-nm RF broadcast, and HPNA v3.
• The ON 2451 ONT: multiple dwelling unit, 4 - 8 POTS ports, 8 - 16 Ethernet ports, 1555-nm RF broadcast, and HPNA v3.1.
Occam says its GPON offerings also reflect its focus on simplicity of turn-up and operation. They include centralized, standards-based ONT control through ONT Management Control Interface (OMCI) and feature easy provisioning with VLANs.
Occam currently projects the new products to be available in Q1 2008, with the exception of the ON 2445, which is anticipated in Q2 2008.
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