OPtera launched:
[Remember, it's fully interoperable with NN's switches.]
<<<
May 04, 1999 08:48
FULL TEXT-Nortel unveils Internet backbone
(Full text of press release from Canada NewsWire)
Nortel Networks Introduces World's Fastest, Highest Capacity,
Most Reliable Internet Technology
Next generation Internet backbone will support up to 28 million
simultaneous Internet connections over a single strand of fiber --
640 times improvement in speed and capacity
360,000 simultaneous transmissions of Star Wars over one fiber
BOSTON, May 4 /CNW/ - Nortel Networks (NYSE/TSE: NT), whose optical
networking equipment already carries 75 percent of North America's backbone
Internet traffic, is introducing a fiber optic technology that carries a beam
of light containing 160 color streams, to increase by 640 times the Internet's
backbone speed and capacity to carry data, video and voice-rich services to
consumers and businesses worldwide.
The new technology -- called OPTera 1600G -- is an optical amplification
system that will provide enough fiber capacity and speed to transport the
entire four-million book collection of the U.S. Library of Congress from
Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles in just seconds through one single strand of
fiber. It also will support -- on a single fiber -- simultaneous Internet
connections to 28 million households, or the simultaneous transmission of
360,000 distribution quality versions of feature-length movies such as the
much-anticipated Star Wars sequel, Episode 1: the Phantom Menace across North
America. Along with industry-leading capacity, the Internet backbone enabled
by Nortel Networks will be always-on' so that data connectivity is as
reliable as dial tone.
The technology, which will be tested in telecommunications networks later
this year and will be commercially available next year, combines 160 separate
channels of light into one beam. Each channel carries data at a rate of 10
Gigabits per second for a total per fiber capacity of 1.6 Terabits or 1.6
trillion bits per second, said Nortel Networks vice-chairman and chief
executive officer John Roth.
"This development will enable consumers, businesses, government,
telecommunications carriers, Internet service providers and others to transmit
and receive an unprecedented amount of voice, video, data and graphics," Roth
said. "It will provide the bandwidth and speed to fully deliver on the
promise of a service and graphics-rich on-line economy, and its capacity will
spawn a ripple effect of development in home computers, appliances and
commercial applications."
"It's a major step forward in our goal of creating a better Internet --
an Optical Internet -- with a more robust, high-performance backbone than ever
before achieved that will enable advanced services and applications for our
use, our children's use, and even our grandchildren's use," Roth added.
Clarence Chandran, president, Carrier Packet Solutions, Nortel Networks,
said Nortel Networks' new breakthrough technology provides scalable capacity
to accommodate the explosion in Internet traffic, such as e-commerce and
e-service applications, multimedia transmission and all other types of
Internet traffic.
Using the old "information superhighway" analogy, Chandran commented
that OPTera 1600G converts a 10-lane super highway into a mega-highway,
constructed of 160, 10-lane highways stacked on top of each other to provide
unprecedented speed and capacity. Access ramps to that highway for businesses
and end users are provided by other Nortel Networks solutions such as the
1-Meg modem and OPTera Metro, which enable e-commerce at the speed of light.
"Nortel Networks already leads in the deployment of high-capacity
optical networks worldwide," Roth said. "With our new OPTera 1600G
capabilities, the possibilities for bandwidth-hungry applications shoot right
off the chart."
Nortel Networks OPTera 1600G will be commercially available next year,
Chandran added. The new system will be beta-tested ahead of schedule, he said,
adding that Nortel Networks had committed in September 1998 to having a
terabit of capacity per fiber by the year 2000. Field tests will trial the
terabit platform at least three months earlier than projected.
Industry analysts estimate the global market for optical networking to
reach US$20 billion by the year 2002, based on growth in excess of 20 percent
annually. "We clearly have the first mover advantage' that will help our
customers gain a competitive edge," Chandran said.
Nortel Networks has built 10 out of the last 12 large optical networks
deployed in North America, as well as seven of the nine pan-European optical
networks -- more national backbone networks than all other providers combined.
The OPTera 1600G will provide 160-channel Dense-Wavelength Division
Multiplexing (D-WDM) on a high-capacity 10 Gbps platform, boosting capacity to
face the exponential growth of the Internet and other multimedia applications
for years to come. The product is the latest in Nortel Networks series of
optical amplifiers and optical systems that are widely deployed globally, and
is part of the open optical OPTera portfolio of products.
By introducing the 1.6 Terabit per second capability, service providers
around the world can now increase capacity modularly on their existing
high-capacity networks by an industry-leading number of wavelengths, realizing
up to 40 percent savings compared to the deployment of additional fiber optic
cable or other service alternatives. Nortel Networks highest-capacity systems
also provide the industry-leading reliability and performance critical to
networks that carry vast amounts of data, and with its open optical
technology, it can transport any type of traffic.
"This system's scalability and flexibility really sets it apart from
other technology solutions," Chandran said. "Service providers can put
different kinds of traffic on each wavelength, including Ethernet or Internet
Protocol (IP) traffic on one, SONET/SDH 2.5 Gbps or 10 Gbps signals on
another, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) signals on others, and so on. This
translates to excellent cost savings, applying the optimum type of transport
for each protocol' on the network, as well as having the flexibility to grow
capacity in 400 Gbps increments as needed."
The 1.6 Tbps platform will support both uni-directional and
bi-directional transmission modes for added flexibility. It can be managed by
Nortel Networks end-to-end Integrated Network Management (INM) platform
providing a unified view of multi-vendor and multi-technology networks. Nortel
Networks INM system allows rapid feature and service provisioning from a
centralized location easily isolating faults in multi-wavelength systems. INM
has been deployed globally in more than 500 networks, managing over 100,000
network elements.
With more than 90 percent market share worldwide for its 10 Gbps systems,
Nortel Networks has achieved a leadership role in optical networking.
/For further information: Jeff Ferry, Nortel Networks, (703) 712-8339,
jferry(at)nortelnetworks.com; Shelley Grandy, Nortel Networks, (905) 863-2105,
sgrandy(at)nortelnetworks
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