National LambdaRail selects Calient Networks for backbone switches

May 30, 2006 San Jose, CA -- Calient Networks announced that National LambdaRail (NLR), the provider of infrastructure for research and experimentation in networking technologies and applications in the U.S., has signed a multi-year supply contract to deploy Calient's DiamondWave PXC in key locations across the U.S. NLR also has signed a partnership and reseller agreement with Calient for the sale of the PXC to NLR members, including Regional Optical Networks (RONs).

The multi-year agreement anticipates deployment of two dozen PXC systems at key junction nodes in the NLR national backbone and at RON interface points. A unique element of the agreement will allow for the partitioning of the PXC between RON and NLR activity, to significantly lower the cost of initial deployment and foster seamless network integration. This will also allow researchers to operate Layer 1 switched virtual private networks with GMPLS networking capability.

The PXC will aid NLR in operating and managing their backbone production network and facilitate the research efforts of their member organizations. Calient's optical switches will provide improved service availability with optical protection while reducing operation costs on the backbone network thanks to remote reconfiguration, says the company. Optical interconnection between RONs will expand and improve end-to-end services such as GRID computing and establishing of temporary extremely high speed networks. Research benefits for the RONs will include bandwidth-on-demand for data-intensive applications, nationwide and local research collaboration and full remote activation and control.

"Our research and education community demands sophisticated and flexible networking infrastructure; Calient's DiamondWave switching platform was selected after careful examination," said Tom West, president and CEO of NLR. "It provides a reliable solution for our community and their need for an advanced infrastructure that supports both production and experimental research applications."

"We are excited to be a part of the next generation network that National LambdaRail is building across the country and look forward to a long and successful relationship," said Charles Corbalis, president and CEO of Calient. "NLR is at the cutting edge of IP-over-optical network technology with their wide range of service offerings and will be a model for future service provider networks worldwide," he continued.

As a part of the agreement, Dr. John Bowers, Calient CTO and UCSB professor, will join the NLR Science Research Council (SRC) to offer expertise in optical sciences and promote Layer 1 research.