Metro Ethernet

Ericsson develops packet-optical gear for metro surge

Ericsson is fielding a line of packet optical gear designed to address the expected surge in metro networking. The new products will support a T-MPLS control plane, but Ericsson plans to upgrade to the more modern MPLS-TP and is also considering PBT (PBB-TE).

Metro capacity may be driven by a host of factors in 2009 and 2010 and the operators may be more interested than usual in the optical layer. This has implications on the Carrier Ethernet and IP MPLS wars since optical spending tends to encourage operators to deploy some control plane architecture, and that could then pull through either switches or routers.

New Cisco edge router to focus on metro apps in 2009

Cisco has announced a new edge router, the 9000, which is widely expected to be the replacement for its aging but important 7600 series. The new box features a card design that gives it a very high per-card capacity, making it capable of supporting the new 100 Mbps Ethernet standard when it is finalized. The box is most likely to be deployed in an edge-of-core or metro-core application, with the latter application focusing on replacing PBT with MPLS inside a metro network. We believe that Cisco will be going full out in 2009 on the metro applications, as well as on “glamour” plays like its deal with the Yankees for an immersive multimedia experience in the stadium.

Carrier Ethernet work continues for inter-provider connections

Vendors and the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) are working to correct an Ethernet omission that may or may not have much relevance to customer interest or service success—the inter-provider NNI. Ethernet standards have not addressed this issue fully because there has been relatively little interest in using Ethernet for long-haul connections, but some believe that the BT interest in PBT for leased-line and frame relay replacement indicate that Ethernet could have a future at a national/international level. This may also spark more interest in pan-provider service management work being done by the IPsphere Forum.

Service providers increase PBT testing

Telefonica has joined the ranks of operators who acknowledge they are testing PBT. As we have indicated, 10 out of 10 of our service provider survey base is conducting or planning PBT tests, but the majority have still not made their commitment public. We believe that there will be five more public announcements of PBT activity among major national providers in 2008.

Packet optical networking destined for bigger growth

September 14 2007: Heavy Reading reports that tremendous growth is expected in packet optical networking, and for once we think they may be even a bit conservative in terms of volume. Packet optical networking is a broad range of stuff that represents non-SONET transport, and one reason we think the forecasts for the sector are low is that the definition of the sector is too narrow. We believe this space has to envelop all of the optical/Ethernet hybrid technologies as well as things like Resilient Packet Ring. When all of these are considered, the total revenue pie is a considerable multiple of the $1 billion that Heavy Reading forecasts for 2012. Packet optical hybrid devices linked with Metro Ethernet are far and away the hottest area in the equipment space, given that nearly 8 of the 10 gigabits of incremental deployed bandwidth in the next five years will occur in metro networks.Relevant Reading Light Reading