March 24, 2006 Las Vegas, NV -- This week at TelecomNEXT, White Rock Networks introduced its VLX1020 C/DWDM System and announced the addition of Ethernet hardware protection and an integrated digital test access unit (DTAU) to its VLX2020 optical transport system. The company says the new products increase the performance and breadth of applications provided by its portfolio of optical networking products for use in metro transport, access, and aggregation scenarios.
The VLX1020 C/DWDM System is a passive 1RU WDM platform, which can be configured as either a CWDM or DWDM system. The CWDM components include an eight-wavelength mux/demux and eight single-wavelength OADMs; when combined, these enable network applications including point-to-point, linear, and ring deployments.
White Rock says the VLX1020's temperature-hardened CWDM components make it an "effective, low-cost" outside plant cabinet services platform. By combining the VLX1020 with long-reach CWDM optics in the VLX2020 or VLX2006 multi-service access platform, the company say a "complete" optical transport system can be achieved. The VLX1020 also features a CWDM/1310 combiner/splitter, which allows CWDM overlay onto an existing 1310-nm deployment or provides for future CWDM expansion.
For DWDM, the VLX1020 has four eight-wavelength mux/demux modules that can be cascaded for 32 wavelength applications. Single-, double-, and quad-wavelength OADMs are available across the entire band of wavelengths, making the VLX1020 suitable for higher-capacity (up to 10 Gbit/sec), higher-density (32 wavelengths), and more flexible metro transport applications.
"Today fiber is still not plentiful in access and metro networks, yet the demand for bandwidth in those parts of the network is growing the most. So service providers turn to C/DWDM fiber relief systems like White Rock's VLX1020," maintains Paul Forzisi, VP of marketing at White Rock Networks. "The VLX1020 not only saves capex by delivering an inexpensive solution that extracts more bandwidth from existing fiber facilities, it [also] helps service providers generate revenue faster through rapid network upgrades."
The VLX2020 adds Ethernet equipment protection with its integrated DTAU, which the company says strengthens the carrier-class Ethernet and Mini DCS applications. The DTAU combines a SONET ADM, a Mini DCS, and an edge Ethernet aggregation platform in a single 2RU package. White Rock says the additional component allows the VLX2020 to deliver Ethernet protection at the hardware level with the protected interface cards in addition to redundant paths for the Ethernet service layer. By integrating DTAU into the VLX2020, the company says it has provided carriers with the ability to connect an industry-standard test head to perform remote automated circuit testing on facilities.
"White Rock's enhancement of the VLX2020 allows service providers to deliver fully protected Ethernet services end-to-end while using its cost-effective integrated Ethernet aggregation capabilities," comments Forzisi. "We further enhanced the VLX2020 with integrated DTAU, which delivers opex savings through DCS-style remote circuit testing."