Lucent Technologies Unveils the Most Flexible, Cost-effective "Metro" Optical Networking Products That Can Provide Up to 50% Cost Savings
MURRAY HILL, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 1999--
Transmit data up to 10 times the speed of today's Local Area Networks; offer 40 times the capacity of traditional transport systems
Lucent Technologies today announced a new class of high-capacity optical networking products that will help eliminate bottlenecks on local communications networks -- allowing local service providers to offer faster Internet access, cost-effective data transport and flexible network configurations.
Lucent's new WaveStar(tm) AllMetro(tm) series of optical networking equipment is the first to offer systems of varying sizes (up to four, eight, 20 and 40 wavelengths). It also is the first to allow service providers to choose how they add and drop wavelengths in their networks based on their network traffic demands. Adding to its flexibility, WaveStar AllMetro is the only series of metro optical networking products that allows service providers to mix and match these systems of varying sizes and add/drop capabilities in a given ring or network to maximize capacity and minimize cost -- reducing equipment costs by as much as 50 percent in certain configurations.
Designed by Bell Labs, Lucent's new "metro" dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) products will enable local service providers to deliver more than 40 times the capacity provided by traditional transport systems in their local networks. WaveStar AllMetro also offers business customers the bandwidth needed to transmit high-speed data up to 10 times faster than the fastest Local Area Networks available today. "With DWDM becoming a more viable option for increasing bandwidth in local networks, we expect the metro DWDM market to grow from about $200 million in 1998 to $1 billion by 2003. That will represent 23 percent of the projected $4.4 billion DWDM market in 2003," said analyst Scott Clavenna, Pioneer Consulting. "Lucent's WaveStar AllMetro products are addressing both the network-central-office and enterprise sides of this the market." Building on the economic benefits of Lucent's long-haul DWDM solutions
Lucent's WaveStar AllMetro product line builds on the company's pioneering work in DWDM technology. This technology enables service providers to boost the capacity of their existing fiber-optic networks to support a high volume of network traffic and offer advanced telecommunications services. Lucent's WaveStar OLS 400G, an 80-channel DWDM system announced in 1998, offers service providers equipment cost savings of up to 40 percent for their long-distance networks.
"DWDM is not just for long distance anymore," said Gerry Butters, president of Lucent's Optical Networking Group. "Lucent's new WaveStar AllMetro solution will allow service providers to bust through the bandwidth bottlenecks found in today's local and enterprise networks. By bringing the economic efficiencies traditionally enjoyed by long-distance carriers to local service providers and corporate customers, we are bringing photons ever closer to the desktop." Supports local carriers and business campuses
Leading the portfolio is the WaveStar AllMetro OLS, a metro system that transmits up to 40 simultaneous wavelengths, or channels, of information, across a single fiber. The system can be used by local service providers to link network central offices or by corporate customers looking to link campus buildings, departments, computer labs, etc. This system will allow service providers to deliver a maximum capacity of 100 gigabits per second (gbps) -- equivalent to sending 1.3 million simultaneous phone calls over a single fiber.
Based on patented Bell Labs technology, the WaveStar AllMetro OLS supports input speeds of 2.5 gbps over each wavelength and will grow to meet the bandwidth needs of business customers as they move to higher-capacity routers. Lucent's plans include an upcoming release of this system supporting input rates of 10 gbps over each wavelength. Designed for nearly any type of traffic, the system supports SONET, SDH, ATM or IP. The WaveStar AllMetro OLS also features both fixed and flexible optical add/drop capabilities that enable service providers to choose how they add or drop wavelengths across specific routes as needed. Flexible, cost-effective solutions for enterprise networks
Lucent's WaveStar AllMetro product line is a "designer tool kit" that allows service providers to design networks with the specific features and functionality that their customers need, at a cost their customers want. Included in the "tool kit" are more compact versions of the system that are economically suited for carriers and corporate customers who have smaller interoffice networks, or those who want to serve select business locations. When used for enterprise networks, carriers can mix and match systems that can offer up to four, eight, 20 or 40 wavelengths of bandwidth on a single fiber with varying add/drop capabilities to create the most cost-effective network for each customer request. Additionally, WaveStar AllMetro systems are designed to support distances up to 60 kilometers without amplifiers and ring configurations of up to 200 kilometers, making them extremely cost-effective when deployed in local networks.
"It's all about options," added Butters. "When buying one of our WaveStar AllMetro systems, service providers can buy only the options they really need -- thus minimizing their cost structure."
WaveStar AllMetro includes Lucent's WaveGuard(tm) self-healing ring protection that reroutes traffic in milliseconds in the event of a fiber cut -- guarding against the disruption of transmission. Enhancing Bell Labs' metro DWDM portfolio
Lucent's WaveStar AllMetro products are going from research to commercial product in less than 15 months, and will be commercially available in the fourth calendar quarter of 1999.
In June 1998, Lucent announced a breakthrough in optical networking with AllWave(tm), the industry's first fiber specifically designed for metropolitan networks. AllWave provides up to 60 percent more usable wavelengths than today's conventional fiber. Lucent currently is prototyping a version of the WaveStar AllMetro OLS that will work with AllWave to provide additional, low-cost bandwidth.
Lucent introduced the first commercial DWDM systems, designed by Bell Labs, in 1995. With nearly 2,000 Optical Line Systems installed, Lucent has the largest deployment of DWDM equipment worldwide.
Lucent Technologies designs, builds, and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, consumer and business telephone systems and microelectronics components. Bell Laboratories is the research and development arm of the company. For more information about Lucent Technologies, visit its Web site at lucent.com.
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