Clear skies ahead in the metro: Telco Systems—driving the IP revolution

Telecommunications Americas, June, 2005

For more than two decades, a local area network battle was waged between Token Ring and Ethernet. Ethernet succeeded, mainly due to its simplicity and low cost. Similar changes are occurring in telecommunications networks today.

The recent developments in the metro area networks can be seen more as a revolution than an evolution.

The typical model of stacking IP on Ethernet, stacked on ATM/Frame Relay/X.25, stacked on SONET/SDH, which itself is sometimes on top of C/DWDM, is being changed.

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In order to carry end-to-end Ethernet, service providers have had to cope with multiple kinds of networks, equipment types, interfaces, and services. The problem is aggravated by continuous changes in customer applications and demands. It is not easy to predict precisely how metro networks are going to evolve.

New services and applications are changing constantly in metro environments. IP methods that involve multi-layer stacking are complex, and they substantially increase both OPEX and CAPEX costs. Service providers that continue adopting the legacy-stacking model might find themselves facing customer churn and continuous revenue decline.

The "Ethernet Storm" in the Enterprise

The rampant use of Ethernet technology at the enterprise has made bandwidth a commodity. "Very fast, very cheap" is the motto. Gigabit technology has pushed aside ATM as the preferred method of Packet-Based Voice and Data, changing the rules of the game.

Most applications run natively over IP, and Layer 2/3 bandwidth managers enable granular bandwidth provisioning to customers while maintaining the proper levels of Quality of Service (QoS). Customers want to use Ethernet as their preferred method to connect to the WAN. It is now estimated that in the next five years, Ethernet will comprise up to 40 percent of the traffic from enterprise networks towards the metro transport. Simply put, not only have the services coming from enterprises changed from traditional voice to VoIP and data -- with data increasing all the time -- we are also seeing changes in the way rings are being built.

The "Ethernet Storm" in the Residence

New "Triple Play" applications together with low cost Ethernet-based infrastructure open a whole range of new applications and experiences for residences. These applications include secure Internet access, IPTV, video on demand (VOD), personal video recording (PVR), video conferencing, interactive video applications such as remote learning, voting and gaming, and voice and video telephony.

What Do Service Providers Require from Ethernet-Based Infrastructures?

In order to fully meet legacy and emerging service requirements, service providers anticipate that Ethernet-based solutions would meet some carrier-class attributes.

Traditional Ethernet solutions have limitations; slow protection failover times, limited topology support, and proprietary solutions.

See Chart I.

Chart I

New Metro Ethernet Access Ring Solutions

A new approach, providing carrier-class attributes while directly addressing all of the challenges mentioned above, is pioneered by Telco Systems.

Telco Systems offers one simplified transport solution delivering measurable benefits across metro access networks for both residential and enterprise users. Here is how it works.

Telco Systems' Fast Ring Solution (T-FRS) offers unique advantages that make it the most efficient, reliable, and cost-effective solution available in the market. T-FRS, a field-proven solution, provides the "hitless" resiliency of SONET/SDH, RPR with the all benefits of Ethernet to implement network and application resilience over fiber or copper rings (GigE and 10GigE). In addition it's scalable -- not limited to rings -- and is Triple-Play ready.

Summary

Ethernet Fast Ring Solutions will deliver significant -- and increasing -- CAPEX and OPEX savings over legacy private line, Frame Relay, and ATM services. Ethernet Fast Ring Solutions are developed to provide QoS and network availability that is functionally similar to -- but with better performance characteristics than -- SONET/SDH infrastructures. The Telco Systems' Fast Ring Solution (T-FRS) offers an alternative to other metro Ethernet fiber and copper ring architectures.

T-FRS provides a convergence time of less than 50ms, the same level of resilience found in SONET/SDH rings, while providing significantly more usable bandwidth. The T-FRS is 100 percent compliant with Ethernet standards. Ring survivability and resiliency are further enhanced by scalable support for multiple rings, eliminating the risk of a single point of failure. T-FRS is based on standard MSTP and RSTP protocols. Moreover, since the solution is standards-based, it can interoperate with any third-party network elements.

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About Telco Systems

Telco Systems, headquartered in Foxboro, MA, has been a leader in the design, development, and manufacturing of carrier grade equipment for U.S. and international service providers since 1972. Our top-notch engineering teams work closely with customers to deliver transport, access and switching equipment for TDM and IP based networks, giving service providers the competitive edge they need. Telco Systems' customers and strategic partners include telecom carriers, service providers, new VoIP carriers, OEMs, global resellers, and Fortune 100 companies.