PMC-Sierra HyPHY chips support OIF’s OTN-over-packet-fabric agreement

PMC-Sierra Inc., (NASDAQ:PMCS) says that its HyPHY Optical Transport Network (OTN) processors already support the Optical Internetworking Forum’s (OIF’s) recently completed OTN-over-Packet-Fabric Protocol Implementation Agreement (IA). The HyPHY 20G and HyPHY 10G chips had a head start on the support effort – PMC says the IA is based on features within the chip family at the time of its debut in 2009 (see “PMC-Sierra offers OTN-centric multi-service convergence devices for metro apps”).

The IA aims to make it easier for systems developers to create a single switching fabric for both OTN and packet-based traffic. The IA defines the mapping protocol for converting OTN streams – including those based on ODU0 and ODUflex – into packets while preserving their frequency and phase. The protocol can be implemented via ASSP, FPGA, or ASIC. The result is the ability to create a single switching fabric for systems such as packet-optical transport platforms.

“Carriers worldwide are adopting OTN switching as a method to provide sub-wavelength switching to their converged optical transport infrastructure,” said Mark Pashan, general manager, optical transport products, Tellabs. “The ability to combine OTN with packet switching on the same platform provides them maximum flexibility in network designs to optimize costs.”

The HyPHY 20Gand HyPHY 10G OTN processors are designed to support the IA via the Constant Bit Rate Interface (CBRI) and OTN Phase Signalling Algorithm (OPSA). Through CBRI and OPSA, PMC sources say both HyPHY devices can accept traffic from a variety of sources and in a variety of different protocol formats, map and multiplex the traffic into OTN, and output the result in one of two forms:
fully formed ODUk/OTUks over serial links, as required to directly connect to optical modules,
packetized ODUks over Interlaken, as required to interface to a packet/cell switch for electrical switching of OTN

PMC sources reveal that “7 of the top 9” network equipment manufacturers are customers for the device. The company has revealed Fujtisu and FiberHome as two of these customers.

“Enabling OTN Switching over Packet/Cell Fabrics,” a whitepaper that explains the benefits of switching ODUs over a packet fabric, is available on PMC’s website (registration required).

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