Agilent Technologies Inc. announced that it has enhanced its OmniBER XM network simulator platform by adding support for (SONET/SDH) simultaneous multi-channel, multi-port APS service disruption measurement and automatic connectivity check.
For the first time, designers and engineers who verify and accept data over SONET/SDH equipment have the ability to completely verify automatic protection switching (APS) performance in hours instead of days of repetitive testing.
The Agilent OmniBER XM Network Simulator replicates real network conditions to stress next-generation SONET/SDH network equipment, increasing the effectiveness of system verification test (SVT). It uses multi-channel, multi-port, parallel testing to quickly and thoroughly validate existing and new products to international standards. The OmniBER XM can simultaneously generate real-life network signals � incorporating mixed payloads, errors and alarms � on up to 192 channels in each single OC-192/STM-64 (10 Gbits/sec) port or on more channels spread across multiple ports and test modules.
New data over SONET/SDH equipment architectures require a new type of SONET/SDH functional tester -- the multi-channel, multi-port tester � which has the ability to simultaneously test a large number of channels in a large number of ports. APS is a critical area of SONET/SDH capabilities and the new data over SONET/SDH equipment is capable of switching a large number of channels over multiple ports in parallel. It often takes days of repetitive testing to completely verify the performance of this next-generation APS capability, even with existing multi-channel, multi-port testers. The OmniBER XM can now reduce this time to hours by simultaneously measuring APS switching times across every channel of every port. In addition, once an APS switch has been made, the OmniBER XM has the ability to check the correct connectivity of every path on every port.
"APS performance verification has always been a strong focus for network operators and their equipment suppliers" says Geoff Thow, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Telecomms Networks Test Division. "The introduction of this new capability on the OmniBER XM platform enables designers and acceptance engineers to have complete confidence in the APS performance of their next-generation SONET/SDH equipment."
Prices for the Agilent (Palo Alto, CA) OmniBER XM network simulator plug-ins start at $12,000 for an OC-12/STM-4 port, and increase to $65,000 for an OC-192/STM-64 port, including the APS enhancements. The products are available now with delivery (with the APS enhancements) expected in the second quarter of 2003.