Hi Ken,
That would be correct. The OPTera Metro product doesn't care what is being carried on the bits in the lightstream. On the access side, an operator only needs to configure a port for its approximate bit-rate and the module "finds" the bitstream in the light. These bits then go thru an O-E conversion, get switched to the designated wavelength transceiver, converted back to light and then optically multiplexed together with the other wavelengths onto the trunk fibers.
As such, the OPTera Metro is agnostic of the protocol being carried by the light, be it SONET/SDH, Fiber Channel, Gigabit Ethernet, HiPPi, ESCON, FDDI, etc. All in all, pretty cool.
From the Nortel web-site about this capability:
Bit-rate and protocol independent interface
OPTera Metro's unique Universal Optical Interface enables the network to be
both bit-rate and protocol independent. This flexibility facilitates rapid, easy
service provisioning by supporting traditional SONET/SDH interfaces as well
as Gigabit Ethernet, ESCON, Fibre Channel, Async Fibre Optics Systems
(FOTS/PDH), and others on the same card. The Universal Optical Interface
eliminates the uncertainty associated with forecasting service needs and
enables rapid service activation regardless of connection type, making
time-to-market and new service delivery a competitive advantage.
Regards,
Lerxst |
