Alcatel-Lucent intros 100GbE service edge router interface
JULY 16, 2009 -- Alcatel-Lucent (search Lightwave for Alcatel-Lucent) has introduced what it asserts to be the industry's first 100-Gigabit Ethernet (100GbE) service routing interface for the edge. The company says the new service interface leverages "unique silicon innovations" to deliver large bandwidth, high speed and quality, and improved power efficiency.
The interface will appear first on the 7750 Service Router and 7450 Ethernet Service Switch.
Expanding capacity at the edge enables service providers to simultaneously reduce the cost per bit of IP transport substantially, while also enhancing their network to deliver increasingly sophisticated high-value services, Alcatel-Lucent asserts. The company offered a testimonial to back up its claim.
"TELUS is committed to innovating and delivering new services for residential, business, and mobile customers in all our markets focused in Canada. These new services and the traffic they generate require a combination of speed, scale and high availability," according to Eros Spadotto, executive VP, technology strategy, at TELUS, a national telecommunications company in Canada. "Selecting advanced platforms that enable us to evolve our network to support 100-Gigabit Ethernet gives us the assurance that we can continue to introduce the most sophisticated services and meet the needs of our customers now and far into the future."
"Traffic keeps growing, but service providers need to make money. For this, they not only need higher speeds and capacities, but they need service flexibility at the same time," stated Michael Howard, principal analyst at Infonetics Research. "We're encouraged to see Alcatel-Lucent support 100-Gigabit Ethernet with services enablement for the edge and the metro, as well as high-speed transport in the core. The fact that these products use the Alcatel-Lucent FP2 silicon that's been shipping for over a year helps reduce risk as service providers move to 100-gigabit interfaces within their networks."
Alcatel-Lucent says its FP2 silicon and enhancements in thermal efficiency reduce power consumption to levels approaching 4 W per gigabit with the new 100GbE interface modules, a "significant" improvement compared to the 10- and 40-Gbps alternatives deployed today.
For service providers needing greater than 10-Gigabit Ethernet density, but not yet ready to move to 100GbE speeds, Alcatel-Lucent simultaneously introduced new 10-port 10-Gigabit Ethernet line cards for the 7750 SR and 7450 ESS. Based on the same FP2 silicon, these line cards deliver up to three hundred 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports in a standard telecom rack, including support for a full range of IP/MPLS services.
The new line cards will be available for demonstrations in 4Q 2009 and commercially in mid-2010.
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