Photonex, Ai Team on Management

MAYNARD, Mass. -- PhotonEx(TM), the leading developer of next-generation core optical networking systems, and Ai Metrix, Inc., the leading supplier of state-of-the-art, network service management system (NSMS) software, today announced that the PX-Ultra(TM) 4T Optical Transport System (OTS) and the CorePilot(TM) Element Management System (EMS) are now operationally integrated with Ai Metrix's NeuralStar(R) products.

By ensuring tight integration between the industry-leading technology solutions offered by PhotonEx and Ai Metrix, customers gain the advantage of efficient, feature-rich network management, operational stability and scalability, and plug-and-play field deployment. The seamless integration of the systems also provides carrier and private network operator's greater ease in adapting to emerging network technology requirements.

"Integration of network management systems continues to be a top priority of network providers, for both the carrier and government network solutions," said Ron Murphy, PhotonEx' Vice President of Global Solutions and Services. "Customers want standard interfaces so they can assemble a coherent, predictable command-and-control system instead of navigating isolated islands of network management data. This cooperative effort and the speed of integration illustrates that PhotonEx and Ai Metrix have engineered products that anticipate and deliver the network provider's multi-vendor management objectives."

Todd Kline, Ai Metrix's Director of Marketing, adds, "This is another example of how an open and flexible Network Service Management System like NeuralStar benefits network operators by providing them with the tools and methodologies to rapidly deploy vendor and protocol neutral, circuit and packet-based network element drivers. Combined with an open, standards-based approach to 'wrap' disparate, technologies and systems, network operator's are provided with the unique ability to monitor, analyze and control their infrastructure and services from a single management environment."

To support rapid deployment and proper operation of ultrafast 10 Gb/s and 40 Gb/s optical transport networks, the PX-Ultra 4T and CorePilot EMS are operationally integrated with NeuralStar's off-the-shelf, fault/service assurance and network performance products. NeuralStar's open environment acts as an abstraction layer, providing a common language for communication between the network itself and the BackOffice applications. This open integration allows true "plug-and-play" interoperability, enabling rapid deployment of PhotonEx' Optical Transport System solution in long haul and ultra long haul environments.

"The open, standards-compliant northbound interfaces of the PX-Ultra 4T and CorePilot, combined with NeuralStar's advanced network element driver tools, made this integration seamless and straightforward," said David Zhou, Director of Element Management System Development, PhotonEx. "Integration went so smoothly, in fact, that we were able to test and verify the integration in a matter of hours, rather than days or weeks."

PhotonEx Corp.

Ai Metrix Inc.