VIENNA -- KEYMILE AG, one of the world’s leading suppliers of multi-service access solutions, has announced the launch of a new solution for delivering high speed Ethernet over existing SDH networks. This means that operators who have already invested heavily in SDH can access new revenues in the fast-growing WAN Ethernet market, without having to replace their existing transmission equipment, and offer their users flexible levels of broadband access, from 2 Mbps upwards. The Ethernet-over-SDH solution is the result of adding extra functionality to the existing UMUX multi-service access platform, already used by network operators throughout the world.

Target audiences for the new solution are both public and private network operators, such as railway companies, police, government authorities as well as power utilities. Public network operators include companies that are keen to enter the high-speed Ethernet acces market, but may currently be held back by their existing network investments. Typical applications are expected to be: provision of high-speed corporate Internet access; LAN-interconnection; and linking disparate or remote locations (for example, railway stations, ticket machines or video cameras), whether point-to-point or point-to-multipoint. The kind of services enabled by this development are Ethernet-Private-Line and LAN, Ethernet Virtual-Private-Line and LAN.

Differentiators & benefits

The UMUX solution supports Ethernet access at any speed, meaning that unlike other solutions that may jump from, say, 2Mpbs to 34Mpbs, to 155Mbps. This makes UMUX the first access platform able to address the ‘mid-range’ Ethernet access market, for example 10Mbps, which is expected to account for many business users.

The UMUX Ethernet-over-SDH solution is a cost-effective way to add high-speed broadband Ethernet access to a network, simply by adding a card to the existing installed UMUX multiservice access platform. In addition, because UMUX includes support for IP/Ethernet, ADSL, G.SHDSL, telephony and private circuit services, it helps network operators reduce capital and operating expenditure. Also, by incorporating Ethernet-over-SDH and Gigabit Ethernet switching on the same card, the need for external switching equipment is removed, with the benefit of providing a mechanism for backhauling Ethernet directly to an Ethernet/IP network using Gigabit Ethernet uplinks. Finally, Ethernet is itself more cost-efficient to operate and manage than traditional TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) services.

Says Christian Haas, Head of Product Management at KEYMILE Switzerland, “There has been talk in the market for a couple of years about re-using SDH to support Ethernet services, but ours is one of the first fully standard-based solutions that is commercially available. This latest development for our UMUX platform is also fully in line with KEYMILE’s strategy to provide solutions that enable network operators migrate from a TDM to a fully packetized environment.”

Keymile AG