Hardware-Based Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation Powers Triple-Play EPON from Teknovus; KDDI's FTTH Deployment Uses Teknovus EPON Technology

Business Wire, May 23, 2005

PETALUMA, Calif. -- Teknovus, the leading provider of semiconductors for broadband optical access networks, unveiled today details about the hardware architecture of its award-winning TK3700-series Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) chipset. Major features that enable reliable and fast triple-play access (video/TV, data, voice) include multiple Logical Links per ONU, which support the assignment and precise enforcement of individual service contracts for each service on a multi-service ONU, as well as a powerful Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation (DBA) engine fully implemented in hardware. Teknovus TK3700 EPON is used by KDDI in its recent deployment of fiber-optic networks for triple play access.

Dr. Glen Kramer, author of Ethernet Passive Optical Networks, offered this assessment: "The case for multiple Logical Links per ONU and hardware-based DBA is straightforward. If you need a triple-play solution that carriers can really use, then you need individual, enforceable service contracts. In EPON systems, the only effective way to implement this is to dedicate a Logical Link to each service, which of course requires that each triple-play ONU support multiple Logical Links. The role of the DBA engine is to enforce these service contracts in real time. Doing this at gigabit-per-second speeds, while performing all the Layer-2 / 3 switching functions needed for a triple-play access platform, mandates the use of hardware DBA."

Dr. John Cioffi, Hitachi America Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, stated, "What is happening today in EPON is reminiscent of the early days of Ethernet switch and router development. The first Ethernet switch products to market were processor-based systems that made all switching decisions in software, and they were slow and expensive. Processor-based solutions became obsolete rapidly when hardware-based switches and routers were introduced. Thinking of an EPON platform as a distributed Ethernet switch, the switching function is implemented by the DBA mechanism. The inherent advantages of implementing DBA in hardware are obvious, and one should expect EPON systems with hardware DBA to be far superior to those with software DBA in terms of performance, design simplicity, and especially cost."

Technology Requirements for Triple-Play

The stringent performance requirements for modern, multi-service Ethernet access-platforms dictate many important aspects of EPON chipset architecture. Dr. Masatoshi Suzuki, Executive Director of KDDI R&D Laboratories, stated, "The ability to offer advanced video services, such as high-definition video and video-on-demand, will be vital to the revenue growth of service providers. At the same time, primary-line VoIP services and a wide variety of data services must be supported. To attain such versatile access networks based on gigabit EPON technologies, the EPON chip should have a stable, high-speed traffic handling capability, which usually can be obtained with hardware implementation."

Dr. Lowell Lamb, Vice President of Marketing for Teknovus, added, "We have worked very hard to optimize the architecture for multi-service applications. This includes keeping the management processors out of the data path and implementing a highly-customizable DBA engine in hardware. Our customers must support a wide variety of services and service mixtures, and the TK3700-series chipset has been able to handle every challenge to date. Those who are looking for multi-service EPON are using our chips, and we are gratified by the success of our customers."

About Teknovus

Teknovus develops and delivers the only proven EPON chipset for fast, easy-to-deploy, and low-cost triple-play (voice, data, video) broadband access via optical fiber networks. The Teknovus EPON chipset is fundamentally changing the way broadband access networks are designed and deployed, including their ability to improve transport capacity, optimize fiber infrastructure, provide management capability, integrate broad service functionality, and reduce the cost of optical access. To learn more about Teknovus, see www.teknovus.com.