PARIS -- Aria Networks, a leading provider of network planning and path computation solutions for Next Generation Networks (NGNs) and Marben Products, an established provider of portable protocol suites for the control and management planes of NGNs, demonstrated that Ethernet Provider Backbone Transport (PBT) networks can be controlled using a combination of a GMPLS-based intelligent control plane and Path Computation Element (PCE) route computation servers, at MPLS & Ethernet World Congress 2008 in Paris.

The demonstration used Aria’s intelligent Virtual Network Topology (iVNT), the industry’s most advanced network planning and path computation software suite. Marben Products’ iVNT-enabled PCE platform utilises Marben Products’ implementation of the Internet Engineering Task Force’s (IETF) PCE Protocol (PCEP) to provide rapid planning and activation of PBT networks and Ethernet services through their GMPLS-based control plane. Ensuring a Carrier Ethernet network can meet today’s service demands, deliver exceptional quality of service, and exceed required service-levels requires the flexibility to compute complex and inter-dependent paths and to dynamically establish connections through the network. Aria and Marben-Products demonstrated real-time path computation of Ethernet service requests and showed the implementation of a variety of IETF standards-based PCE capabilities, including the ability to fulfill many Ethernet service requests concurrently.

“PBT is a connection-oriented, packet-switching technology that enables wide-scale deployment of Ethernet Switched Paths (ESPs) as a deterministic transport mechanism, but establishing Ethernet services on PBT networks relies on instructions from management systems to set-up the paths. So it is a natural fit that PBT is controlled by the IETF’s PCE, as PCE defines a framework for path-computation to be performed by an external system,” said Daniel King, Vice President at Aria Networks. “Combining iVNT’s path-computation capabilities with Marben Products’ PCE platform enables the Ethernet PBT network and services to be managed with an unprecedented level of sophistication and control.”

Aria Networks Ltd.