Agilent Technologies Inc., a provider of technologies for communications and life sciences, announced that it will add support for CIENA Corporation's Optical Switching and Routing Protocol (OSRP) to Agilent's recently announced system for testing optical switching and routing functions.
Agilent's new solution allows service providers and equipment manufacturers to test and verify the performance and interoperability of the hardware and software responsible for directing traffic carried on optical wavelengths and for dynamically requesting optical bandwidth across core networks.
OSRP support will allow CIENA engineers to use the Agilent system to speed ongoing product development and verification, while service providers can use the product to troubleshoot and verify intelligent optical networking installations in the field and lab, accelerating network and service deployment. OSRP will be added to the comprehensive range of protocols already supported by Agilent.
OSRP, CIENA's pre-standard Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) solution, is an open, "in-band" protocol that enables distributed, dynamic information exchange between CIENA's MultiWave CoreDirector intelligent optical switches and the Internet Protocol (IP) networking layer. By allowing carriers to provision, protect and restore services automatically and in real-time, OSRP enables each CoreDirector to read the status of the network, to evaluate the state of the network, and to dynamically select the best path for traffic to travel across the network to its destination.
Agilent's Optical Routing Test Solution family focuses on testing the "optical control plane"�the software protocols and hardware that guide optical functions and communications between multiple switches and routers. The optical control plane plays a key role in fulfilling requests for bandwidth on demand, sharing network topology information and enabling communication between multivendor optical equipment. The solution provides "in-band" testing of optical control plane protocols. In-band transmission permits communications between optical routers and switches to be carried within standard SONET/SDH frame overhead, eliminating the need to dedicate a separate optical wavelength or circuit for control communications.
Beginning early in 2001, OSRP protocols will be included in future releases of the Agilent E5170A Optical Control Plane Analysis software at no additional cost.
About Agilent Technologies:
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is a diversified technology company that designs and manufactures test, measurement and monitoring instruments, systems and solutions, and semiconductor and optical components.