Tellabs Intros EoSDH Switch Node

LONDON -- Tellabs today announced a new high-density Ethernet-over-SDH(Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) switch node developed to lower telecomoperators' costs by consolidating larger amounts of voice and data trafficthan conventional systems. By grooming and consolidating both voice trafficand the increasing amounts of carrier-class data traffic at the networkedge, the Tellabs 6345 switch node reduces the bandwidth and switchingcapacity needed in the core of the network, creating a truly convergednetwork and lowering costs substantially.

The Tellabs 6345 switch node is the latest in a series of next-generationsolutions from Tellabs, which enable SDH networks to transport dataefficiently and cost-effectively. Products in the Tellabs® 6300 managedtransport series have already been deployed by leading alternate telecomoperators, including Sonofon (Denmark), Tele2 (Sweden) and PGCIL (India),who typically seek to use technology to gain competitive advantage overtheir incumbent rivals. The new switch node, a 10 Gbit/s service platformwith full Layer 2 Ethernet functionality and lower-order access, will beavailable for customer shipment from the fourth quarter of 2003.

"In today's market, telecom operators across the world have to adapt theirnetworks to handle an increasing amount of data traffic from both consumerand business users. At the same time, they experience a decrease in revenueper transported bit," says Michael Howard, principal analyst andco-founder, Infonetics Research Inc. "Ethernet-over-SDH is an efficient andpromising way for operators to gain maximum benefit from their installedbase of SDH equipment. The most cost-effective solution is to invest incompact, multi-functional equipment with many service interfaces, which canhandle both lower-order and higher-order traffic."

"We focus our R&D on developing breakthrough solutions to meet networkoperators' most pressing needs," says Peter Viereck, vice president andgeneral manager - optical transport networks at Tellabs. "We are currentlyintroducing a range of solutions that enable customers to maximise thereturn on their investment in SDH, and as one of the first vendors to offerequipment combining full MPLS-based Layer 2 Ethernet switching andlower-order processing, we expect to see considerable demand for theTellabs 6345 system."

The Tellabs 6345 switch node uses an Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)-based Layer 2 switching that enables operators to offer truequality-of-service for data transport, while preserving the simplicity andcost-efficiency of Ethernet interfaces. It is a scalable high-densitymulti-service provisioning platform designed for both metropolitan andregional networks. With interfaces ranging from 2 Mbit/s to 10 Gbit/s, itprovides lower-order access, integrated Fast and Gigabit Ethernet ports andfull Layer 2 switching.

The new node continues the successful two-level 4/4 and 4/1 cross-connectstructure introduced in the Tellabs® 6350 switch node, which is well suitedfor implementing distributed transport switching network architectures.With a cross-connect capacity of 384 x STM-1 and 8,064 x VC-12, the Tellabs6345 switch node is the most powerful and compact ADM-64 system on themarket today.

The Tellabs 6300 solution is a breakthrough next-generation SDH platformthat enables network operators to deliver data efficiently and profitably.It offers integrated management of data, SDH and DWDM networks from asingle network management system, enabling point-and-click networkoperations across network elements from the edge to the core. Theseleading-edge, high-density products cost-effectively collect andconsolidate voice and data traffic in the metro and regional areas and arealready deployed throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africaand Latin America.

Tellabs Inc.