2 June 2003 Santa Clara, CA Lightwave -- PMC-Sierra Inc. today introduced the PM5329 ARROW 24xFE and PM5333 ARROW 8xFE 10/100 Ethernet over SONET/SDH mapping devices to enable the delivery of carrier-class Metro Ethernet services. The new devices join PMC-Sierra's production released PM5397 ARROW 2xGE Gigabit Ethernet over SONET/SDH mapping device to offer complete 10, 100, and 1000 Mbit/s Ethernet transport services for Add/Drop Multiplexers (ADM) and Multi-Service Provisioning Platforms (MSPP).
Metro Ethernet services are growing rapidly due to the requirements for simplified low cost enterprise LAN/WAN interconnection. The existing SONET/SDH infrastructure can now support new carrier-class Ethernet services alongside voice circuit and other legacy TDM services. Emerging industry standards--including Virtual Concatenation, Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme (LCAS), and Generic Framing Procedure (GFP)--provide a network deployment model where carriers can provision and charge for services as customers require the bandwidth. As a result, carriers can now offer new revenue generating services without major incremental investments.
"We see the ability to seamlessly support Ethernet services in already deployed carrier networks as a key benefit of our Metropolis DMX family of products," explains Frank Polito, director of development at Lucent Technologies. "PMC-Sierra's ARROW 24xFE and ARROW 8xFE provide us with the best possible solutions to enable our customers to offer scalable Ethernet transport services that support the same degree of security, reliability and guaranteed service quality that have been previously available from traditional access technologies such as T1."
PMC-Sierra's ARROW 24xFE and ARROW 8xFE products are the industry's first 622-Mbit/sec and 2.5-Gbit/sec capacity devices to support both low order (VT1.5/VC-12) and high order (STS-1, STS-3c/VC-4) Virtual Concatenation with hitless bandwidth adjustments using fully integrated LCAS processing, claims company representatives. Fine granularity bandwidth tuning with low order Virtual Concatenation (1.6-Mbit/sec VT1.5 / 2-Mbit/sec VC-12) enables delivery of customer-tailored 10/100 Ethernet services while maintaining network efficiency. For network efficient 1000-Mbit/sec Ethernet services, PMC-Sierra's ARROW 2xGE device enables Gigabit Ethernet users to benefit from high order Virtual Concatenation and provide transport services from 50 Mbits/sec all the way up to a full 1 Gbit/sec with 50-Mbit/sec (STS-1/VC-3) increments.
The PM5329 ARROW 24xFE and PM5333 ARROW 8xFE are packaged in a 27-mm x 27-mm 672-pin FCBGA. These devices will be sampling in the third quarter of 2003. The ARROW 24xFE is priced at $459 and the ARROW 8xFE is at $289 in 1,000-unit quantities. The PM5397 ARROW 2xGE is now in full production and is priced at $340, also in 1,000-unit quantities.