MARCH 21, 2007 -- Cisco (search for Cisco) today announced it has made significant hardware and software upgrades to its Cisco ONS optical networking portfolio that give service providers and enterprises more flexibility in delivering new services as well as a greater ability to scale their networks.
Available today on the Cisco ONS 15454 (search for ONS 15454) Multiservice Transport Platform, the latest hardware and software features will help users generate new revenue streams and move toward more efficient, flexible, Internet Protocol-based next-generation (IP NGN) and Ethernet-based networks, helping them reduce capital and operating expenses, says the company.
Highlights include a new 40-channel, mesh reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (search for ROADM) supporting from two- to eight-degrees of DWDM traffic, the Ethernet Xponder (pronounced "cross-ponder"), and a multi-service provisioning platform (MSPP)-on-a-blade.
The Cisco mesh ROADM functionality includes operational innovations that support a service provider's migration from ring-based DWDM topologies to more fiber-efficient mesh DWDM topologies while simultaneously simplifying management, provisioning, and troubleshooting, say company representatives.
The Cisco Ethernet Xponder is the first DWDM offering that provides aggregation of 1-Mbit/sec up to 1-Gigabit Ethernet into G.709, 10-Gbit/sec wavelengths for delivery to Cisco routers such as the Cisco Carrier Routing System (search for CRS-1), based on IP-over-DWDM. This enables service providers who have already deployed the Cisco ONS 15454 platform for other services to add a blade to provide cost-effective Ethernet aggregation services in remote central offices, say Cisco representatives.
Cisco says its MSPP-on-a-blade provides significant investment protection by enabling full MSPP SONET/ SDH functionality to reside on a single card inside a Cisco MSTP DWDM chassis. With more than 75,000 Cisco ONS 15454 systems deployed, these innovations are enabling service providers to migrate easily from SONET/SDH services to DWDM services in the same Cisco ONS 15454 chassis, providing unparalleled investment protection, note company representatives.
Cisco also announced today that four leading service providers--Cogent Communications, Vidéotron, Veroxity Technology Partners, and HL komm--have deployed or support Cisco's new ONS 15454 MSTP hardware and software features.
Cogent
Cogent Communications, a multinational, Tier-1 facilities-based ISP and one of the largest providers of Ethernet services, offers high-capacity Internet access and transport services to corporate and net-centric customers in approximately 90 markets across 14 countries in North America and Western Europe. Cogent has been using the Cisco ONS 15454 in its metro networks since 2000.
Cogent says it is deploying the Cisco ONS 15454 MSTP across its long-haul backbone, where it utilizes the flexibility and features of the MSTP to quickly and cost-effectively provision bandwidth when and where it is needed. According to Cogent representatives, the Cisco ONS 15454 MSTP meets its needs for GbE, 10-GbE, and OC-192 services on an operational basis, and provides the flexibility to upgrade to higher capacity 40-Gbit/sec wavelengths in the future.
Vidéotron
Vidéotron, an integrated communications company engaged in cable television, interactive multimedia development, Internet access services, cable telephony, and wireless services in Canada, has chosen and deployed Cisco's ONS 15454 MSTP with ROADM technology for its major transport sites. Vidéotron is a wholly owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc.
The Cisco ROADM allows Vidéotron to rapidly build new optical paths between any of its major sites in a more cost effective manner, say Vidéotron representatives. The new capability enables Vidéotron to operate more efficiently and cost effectively since the pre-provisioning of each and every hub site is not required. A Cisco ONS 15454 ROADM node also allows Vidéotron to add and drop wavelengths without changing the physical fiber connections.
"By deploying the Cisco ONS 15454 MSTP, Vidéotron is better equipped to handle the convergence of voice, video, data, and mobile communications that customers need to survive in a competitive marketplace," reports Michel Allard, vice-president of engineering at Vidéotron. "Vidéotron is poised to provide customers with the most advanced 'quad-play' services in our service area."
Veroxity
Veroxity Technology Partners, based in Bedford, MA, builds and supports fiber-diverse, mission-critical optical networks for its enterprise customers. The company operates as a facilities-based carrier and owns and operates a global optical backbone to serve major metropolitan markets across the United States and Europe.
Veroxity, which has deployed the most recent Cisco ONS 15454 platform upgrades, says it will provision new high-speed customer-site connections much more rapidly using software and the new ROADM capabilities.
With the demands for increasing bandwidth and high-bandwidth services, Veroxity needed a way to offer new, high-bandwidth services, yet retain its existing operational model and avoid increasing its support staff. The goal was to limit provisioning to a single truck roll with the ability to provision new services remotely as needed, say company representatives.
"The Cisco ONS 15454 MSTP solution is another example of how well Cisco understands our business," asserts Matthew Roth, chief network architect at Veroxity. "It was the first company to provide ROADM capability that met all of our flexibility and redundancy requirements and fit into our existing business model. Cisco allows us to place two-degree ROADM technology cost-effectively at specific sites and now provides the capability to use multidegree ROADM technology at ring interconnections," he says. "It is the only vendor that I am aware of to offer complementary two-degree and multidegree ROADM technology."
HL komm
HL komm, a telecommunications service provider for the Leipzig and Halle region in Germany, uses the Cisco ONS 15454 MSTP for its core backbone in Halle-Leipzig and to unite local-area networks in Saxonia-Anhalt. The Cisco ONS 15454 platform offered HL komm more flexibility in delivering new services, such as Gigabit Ethernet and SDH links to its customers as well as the ability to more efficiently manage the optical infrastructure, says the provider.
"The latest enhancements to the Cisco ONS 15454 MSTP play a key role in helping us reach our evolving IP-based next-generation network and service goals," explains Heiko Heusinger, HL komm. "The wavelength cross-connect extends the management efficiencies, flexibility, and reduced operating costs we already have with ROADMs in ring-based sub-networks to our mesh-based network. It would also enable us to migrate our SDH service onto the Cisco ONS 15454 platform with 10-Gigabit MSPP-on-a-blade, which again reduces operating expenses and provides more flexibility," adds Heusinger.
The Cisco ONS 15454 MSTP is available now and varies in price based on configuration.
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