Ericsson Intros Metro DWDM Gear

Ericsson today announced the new ERION Metro solution, which uses a unique traffic protection concept that enables telecom and data operators to build high-capacity DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) optical networks. ERION Metro delivers a high level of network availability that is required for data and multimedia applications in Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) services.

Network operators can deploy ERION DWDM solutions to boost the capacity of their installed fiber optic networks by up to 32 times. The new ERION Metro solution re-uses channels dropped at any node in the ring to make bandwidth available for new signals. Operators can also build ring networks so they can guarantee higher availability for their subscribers. Better protection of data traffic is achieved, even for applications based on IP, ATM or digital video protocols that do not have protection built in at the user level.

Ericsson's General Manager and Head of Optical Networking Research, Per O. Andersson, says, "ERION Metro has been designed to meet the specific needs of operators for a short-haul optical solution - up to 100km ring circumference where flexibility and reliability are needed to handle increasing volumes of IP and data traffic. The requirements are for a solution that is economic, flexible, reliable and able to grow in line with traffic expansion."

ERION Metro employs a channel protection scheme that can be used optionally on a per channel basis. If protection is not required, the ring can be realized with a single fiber instead of a fiber pair. Furthermore, ERION Metro does not require optical amplifiers, giving a very cost-effective solution for the metropolitan segment of the network.

The ERION portfolio provides operators with products needed to build high-capacity, multi-layered optical networks to manage the bandwidth needed for new multimedia applications as efficiently as possible. Solutions are built up from optical network elements based on a common, modular and scalable platform. The ERION portfolio includes the following network element types: Optical Terminal Multiplexers (OTMs), Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers (OADMs), and Optical Cross-Connects (OXCs).

The ERION IMA network management system allows optical circuits to be created, routed and managed using the dynamic features of the optical cross-connects and add-drop multiplexers.

The ERION FlexRing, launched last year, is optimized for wide area metropolitan (WAM) networks with a ring circumference of up to 500km. It addresses the network segment just above the metro access layer (max. 100km circumference) which is covered by ERION Metro. ERION FlexRing supports a network topology that includes hubbing and meshing between the nodes, and it has been widely implemented in North America and Europe for applications including IP, CATV, Gigabit Ethernet and SDH/SONET.

http://www.ericsson.com