More about Pirelli...and ASND. Where does CIEN fit in?
Pirelli, in Conjunction With Ascend, to Demonstrate Wide Range of ATM Over WDM Capability During NFOEC
PR Newswire, Friday, September 11, 1998 at 17:37
COLUMBIA, S.C., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Pirelli Cables and Systems North
America, in conjunction with Ascend Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASND), will
demonstrate the unmatched capability and flexibility of Pirelli's wavelength
division multiplexing equipment during the National Fiber Optic Engineers
Conference in Orlando, Fla., Sept. 13-17.
Pirelli will use its T-31 OMDS 1632 system in concert with Ascend's GX 550
"Smart" Core ATM switches and will transmit traffic simultaneously over a
single optical fiber in five variations of bit rate: OC-3, OC-12 and OC-48
over ATM and OC-12 and OC-48 over SONET.
"This demonstration provides a look at what leading service providers are
doing today -- building and simplifying the new public network using platforms
that consolidate multiple functions and services. It illustrates the benefits
interoperability between Ascend's GX 550 switch and the DWDM equipment bring
to the equation," said Dr. Hassan Ahmed, executive vice president and general
manager, Core Systems Division, Ascend Communications. "Because the GX 550 has
built-in SONET and Digital Cross-Connect System (DCS) functionality and
redundancy, directly connecting it to fiber or DWDM equipment greatly
simplifies service provider networks by preserving SONET and DCS functionality
while eliminating the need for an entire layer of traditional networking
hardware."
The system on display also will demonstrate the ability to add/drop a
channel of OC-12 over ATM in mid-span, a feature of particular value to a
network provider in a metropolitan area that needs to provide high-volume ATM
capability to a single customer.
Pirelli will be in Booth 143.
"No other optical multiplexing systems provider comes close to being able
to provide the flexibility that Pirelli will demonstrate at NFOEC," Walter
Alessandrini, president and CEO of Pirelli Cables and Systems North America,
said. "The combination of leading-edge technologies from Ascend and Pirelli
provides the capability to cost-effectively and efficiently enhance the
quality and bandwidth capacity of ATM data networks, and the ability to also
transmit at varying bit rates over SONET represents the maximum in
flexibility, speed and performance."
Earlier this year, Pirelli and Ascend, working with Williams Network,
announced successful trials employing Pirelli's DWDM technology to directly
connect ATM switches into an optical network for a lower-cost, higher-
reliability architecture.
At that time, Pirelli and Ascend spokesmen noted that the successful
trials opened the door to numerous possibilities for cost-savings and shorter
turn-up times.
The ability to connect ATM directly to fiber permits service providers to
build networks without the need for costly legacy SONET equipment.
In addition, the T-31 OMDS system allows the customer to increase network
capacity without the expense and time that adding fiber entails. The scaleable
system can be upgraded incrementally from 2 to 32 channels as demand for
bandwidth dictates, which allows low initial cost. Turn-up time of additional
channels typically is less than two days, and can be accomplished without
disruption of network traffic. The system also has the unique capability to
drop/add up to four channels.
Pirelli introduced its T-31 OMDS 1632 system this spring as the highest
capacity wavelength division multiplexing system available for metropolitan
applications.
Ascend Communications, Inc. develops, manufactures, sells and services
wide area networking solutions for telecommunications carriers, Internet
service providers and corporate customers worldwide. For more information
about Ascend and its products, please visit the Ascend web site at
www.ascend.com, or send e-mail to info@ascend.com.
Pirelli Cables and Systems North America is headquartered in Columbia,
S.C. With facilities in Lexington and Abbeville, S.C., Colusa, Calif., Surrey,
British Columbia, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, and Prescott, Ontario, it
provides fiber optic cable and photonics equipment for the communications
industry and energy transmission and distribution cable for the utility and
commercial building industries.
Pirelli Cables and Systems is a global manufacturer of communications and
power cables and systems. With 14,000 employees, 49 plants, research and
development centers in Italy, the United States, France, Great Britain and
Brazil, and total sales of more than $3.5 billion, Pirelli ranks among the
world leaders. The company is increasingly focusing its R&D and manufacturing
resources and competencies on leading edge technologies, based on optical
fibers and photonics for communications networks and superconductivity for
power transmission.
|
