News

20 October 2009

 

Infinera launches metro WDM edge platform

In a live demonstration at this week’s Supercomm 2009 trade show in Chicago, IL, USA, Infinera of Sunnyvale, CA, USA, a vertically integrated manufacturer of digital optical network systems incorporating its own indium phosphide-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs), is unveiling its compact and flexible ATN metro WDM edge platform.

The firm says that the new system brings the benefits of its Digital Optical Network architecture to the edge of the network, offering service providers with a seamless end-to-end managed WDM solution. “Our customers have embraced the simplicity, efficiency and speed of the Digital Optical Network,” says CEO Jagdeep Singh. “They have asked us for solutions to extend the Infinera benefits deeper into their metro network.” Together with the introduction of its submarine solution last month, Infinera says that it now provides end-to-end optical networks capability. The firm’s products are now carrying live traffic in all segments of the DWDM market: metro, regional/long-haul, and submarine.

The ATN is designed to offer seamless integration with an Infinera DTN network via a common network management system, enabling end-to-end service provisioning and visibility. The firm says that, by eliminating back-to-back transponders at network interconnection points, an ATN/DTN network delivers savings in capital expenditure, while extending ease of operation to the metro edge. An ATN network, in combination with a DTN network, can offer end-to-end integrated optical transport network (OTN) bandwidth management for traffic transiting the network, leveraging Infinera's integrated digital bandwidth management. The ATN also provides a high-density platform for standalone metro C/DWDM applications, including data-center connectivity, commercial services extension and broadband backhaul. Infinera also says that the ease of operation and powerful management software provide robust network management options from the smallest to the largest networks, enabling operators to minimize network operational expenditure.

As a compact, metro optical transport platform, the ATN delivers up to 40 DWDM or 8 CWDM wavelengths on a single fiber pair. Implementing flexible service interface modules (SIMs) with all line-side and client-side interfaces pluggable, the ATN offers flexible configurations to simplify and accelerate network deployment. The ATN has been designed to offer what is claimed to be best-in-class density and power consumption in a small form factor. It is designed to support all metro transport services, including Ethernet, SAN, SONET/SDH, OTN and video services.

Infinera’s digital architecture has brought new efficiency to core optical networks: the firm’s Bandwidth Virtualization ensures that bandwidth resources in the core network can be allocated to carry any available service between any points on the network, increasing network flexibility and utilization rates, and minimizing stranded bandwidth. By interconnecting ATN and DTN networks, the ATN extends those efficiency and flexibility benefits to the metro edge.

Infinera has already won six customers for the new platform, including telecom carriers, cable operators, and Internet content providers. For example, Deltacom, a provider of integrated communications services already operates a long-haul DTN network across the southeastern USA, has deployed the ATN in several of its metro markets.

According to market analyst firm Ovum, worldwide revenue in the metro DWDM market in 2008 was $3.6bn, with a forecast average annual growth rate of 13% over the next six years. Infinera says that the ATN's launch enables it to address the full metro market. “Infinera’s ATN metro platform effectively doubles Infinera’s addressable market while also strengthening its value proposition,” says Dana Cooperson, Ovum’s VP for Network Infrastructure. “In-house development of the platform promises capital and expense efficiencies from tight coupling of the ATN and DTN in critical areas like service and network management and physical interworking, but the platform stands on its own as well,” she adds.

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