AlcaLu Looks Beyond 100GigE

With its 100Gigabit Ethernet capabilities already housed and shipping in its 7750 service router box, Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is looking to take routing capacity to the next level.

The company has just completed a thorough test of its 100GbE interfaces, with German independent test lab European Advanced Networking Test Center AG (EANTC) putting the vendor's 7750 SR-12 product through its paces with the help of measurement tools from Ixia (Nasdaq: XXIA). (See 100Gbit/s Ethernet Router Test: Alcatel-Lucent.)

That process, which included tests for IP multicast forwarding performance, MPLS traffic differentiation, VPLS scalability, energy efficiency and multiple other metrics, followed similar treatment for ZTE Corp. (Shenzhen: 000063; Hong Kong: 0763). (See 100Gbit/s Ethernet Router Test: ZTE.)

With the tests completed to an "impressive" standard, the AlcaLu team told EANTC's test crew they were looking "beyond 100Gigabit Ethernet," no doubt a reference to the capabilities of the recently unveiled FP3 network processor. (See AlcaLu Issues 400G Router Challenge.)

There's no doubt AlcaLu is leaning on the current and future capabilities of the IP team to help deliver a cutting edge in next-generation metro and core networks for network operators of all types.

And Basil Alwan's team, so far, is living up to expectations, continuing to increase customers and sales at an impressive lick. (See AlcaLu Keeps TiMetra Juiced and Interview: Basil Alwan & Lindsay Newell, AlcaLu IP Division.)

The IP division registered revenues of €1.46 billion (US$2.06 billion) in 2010, up 24.4 percent from 2009 and is already picking up deals for its 100Gbit/s combo of its 1830 PSS WDM optical platform with the 7750 SR. (See Mobily Trials 100G With AlcaLu, AlcaLu's IP Router Sales Soar, 360networks Picks AlcaLu 100G, True Deploys AlcaLu 100G and AlcaLu Goes Commercial With 100G.)

EANTC's 12-page report on the 7750 SR-12 can be read for free, with Light Reading registration (which is also free), right here.

— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading