Broadwing completes intelligent, all-optical ring
[FAC: I've been following some fascinating developments lately, concerning so-called all-optical network fabrics. On the backend of these things they invariably have plenty of fast electronics at work, doing things both legacy and next gen. And it should be noted that SONET framing continues to be a big piece of this picture. Otherwise those interfaces would be called something other than OC48s and OC192s. But the physical interfaces are increasingly all-glass, eliminating hundreds of multiplexing elements per POP that would ordinarily be performing o-e-o conversions. And they are achieving multi-vendor interfacing at the physical layer that earlier seemed highly unlikely without the dither of interworking and implementation agreements between vendors. So. All optical? Well.. it still depends on what part of the architecture you're talking about. But on the interfaces and at the handoff points? Increasingly, the answers are yes and yes. And the price to be paid will be paid by those former o-e-o box makers.]
Upon final completion of the central and western rings within the next 45 days, Broadwing will "light up" the world's first fully optical network.
fiberopticsonline.com
For posterity:
---------
Broadwing completes intelligent, all-optical ring More...
3/2/2001 AUSTIN, TX – Broadwing Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Broadwing Inc. (NYSE: BRW), today announced the completion and initiation to commercial service of the eastern optical ring of its all-optical network.
Upon final completion of the central and western rings within the next 45 days, Broadwing will "light up" the world’s first fully optical network which will redefine standards of excellence for optical service delivery, enabling provisioning of coast-to-coast IP networks and creation of bandwidth-on-demand services.
"The completion of the Eastern Ring is a significant milestone for the overall completion of the world's first all-optical network, a goal that Broadwing has championed since its inception," said Rick Pontin, Broadwing President and COO. "We are on the verge of providing corporate America with bandwidth on demand - at the click of a button - and eradicating the constraints of bandwidth availability and provisioning problems that have prevented customers from realizing the true potential of multimedia and rich content in their business applications."
Today’s announcement further reinforces Broadwing’s launch of the world’s first all-optical network, and follows on the heels of recent initiatives, including the first field trial of an optical signal traveling over 4000km without electrical regeneration; the creation of the only all-optical network interoperability lab; the first commercial traffic carried on an all-optical network segment; the installation of the industry’s first all-optical switch manufactured by Corvis Corporation; and the completion of on-ramps to the optical network via Nortel’s Optera LH and CIENA’s CoreDirector Optical Switching Systems.
Broadwing’s eastern ring features optical switches in Fort Worth, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Joplin, Missouri and covers 4000 route miles between New York and Fort Worth.
Broadwing’s fully-optical portion of its award-winning, 18,500-mile network, which currently carries revenue traffic, will be officially "lit" upon culmination of the central and western rings, within the next 45 days. |
