June 10, 2013
Waves of change on the horizon in our optical industry
Ciena SVP Tom Mock takes a look at our dynamic market, and the need to assess our industry through something other than a traditional optical lens.
Read More
June 6, 2013
What is the Future of Carrier Ethernet?
MEF experts from Comcast and Ciena are hosting a LinkedIn forum discussion next week on the Future of Carrier Ethernet
Read More
June 3, 2013
R&E community lights first 100G trans-Atlantic route for research and education
A group of six R&E institutions have lit the first ever trans-Atlantic 100G link for research and education between North America and Europe.
Read More
June 10, 2013
12:57 PM EDT
by
Waves of change on the horizon in our optical industry
Tom Mock (bio) is Ciena’s Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, responsible for defining, articulating and communicating Ciena’s corporate positioning, messaging and branding as well as the company’s strategy and performance. Mr. Mock joined Ciena in 1997.
The waves of change in our industry are relentless.
New technologies seemingly transform from future concepts to “the next big thing” in the blink of an eye. And every three months the pundits attempt to crown new market leaders and laggards with each updated quarterly market share report. The prospects of the industry and its players ostensibly rise and fall with each drop of new information.
During the last few weeks, the latest round of analyst reports emerged, and yet another tide of industry analysis and debate has come in…packet-optical demand is up…overall optical transport spending is down...the 100G market is exploding…
What does all this mean? Analysis must be done. Opinions must be formed. Conclusions must be made. But be quick – a new tide is due in tomorrow.
Amid our industry’s increasing micro analysis, it is easy to lose sight of the broader story and the longer term view. 
To achieve that, we must assess our industry through something other than a traditional optical lens.
Yes, the 100G revolution is happening now and it is accelerating. Those waves are crashing loudly right at our feet, and they cannot be ignored. But look beyond them, and you’ll see the waves of change extending far off into the distance, and they are relentless. That long horizon represents the fundamental network changes that are transforming our industry. And they represent the long-term opportunity for Ciena. These transformational changes start with the end-user.
Mobility, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things are profoundly changing the service demands of both businesses and consumers – requiring a fundamental re-architecting of the network, not just a near-term optical upgrade. All types of services are moving to a converged network architecture, with Ethernet business services, OTN, SDN, and...
Read More
June 6, 2013
9:13 PM EDT
by
What is the Future of Carrier Ethernet?
Updated: The LinkedIn discussion is now live here!
Over the last few weeks, the networking industry worldwide has celebrated the 40th anniversary of Ethernet. Bob Metcalfe, considered "The Father of Ethernet" was even on-hand for the Ethernet Innovation Summit that serves as the pseudo celebration event.
With the celebration and retrospective in the rear-view mirror, it's now time to look forward at the future of Ethernet. And Ethernet's future is very much tied to its rapid expansion from the LAN to the WAN as the preferred foundation for business connectivity.
Next week, four MEF experts will lead a week-long online discussion on The Future of Carrier Ethernet, and you are invited to join in. The event will be hosted on LinkedIn in the Carrier Ethernet LinkedIn discussion group, a 6,300+ member strong forum that counts many of the industry's foremost Carrier Ethernet experts as members.
Four of those members will be leading the discussion, two from Ciena and two from Comcast:
Karen Schmidt
VP of Marketing
Comcast Business
Director at the MEF
Mike Tighe
Executive Director of Data Services
Comcast Business
Past Chairman of the MEF
John Hawkins
Sr. Product Manager, Ciena
Member of the MEF, having held board/chair positions for a variety of IEEE and MEF committees related to Carrier Ethernet
Raghu Ranganathan
Senior Advisor of Network Architecture within the Office of CTO
Ciena
Director at the MEF and co-chair of the MEF Technical Committee
If you've never been a part of a LinkedIn discussion group, now is the time to try it out. Think of it as a message board, but with better features and moderation, and the benefit of having thousands of knowledgeable industry professionals doing the commenting.
The four featured experts above will guide the discussion thread, interact with the group, and answer questions across a range of topics – from standards development and networking approaches to service uptake and demand trends, including when, where and why to deploy Carrier Ethernet vs. other technologies.
This will be an open discussion, with all group members welcome to ask questions, make comments, and interact. But first we need your questions to help start off next week's conversation. As such, we’d like to ask that you send your questions in advance to carrierethernetgroup@gmail.com so we can put a topic schedule together.
Don't have a question that comes to mind? Don't worry, there will be plenty of discussion for you to follow. The discussion is now live here.
Read More
June 3, 2013
2:08 PM EDT
by
R&E community lights first 100G trans-Atlantic route for research and education
Want to get an idea for the truly bleeding edge of communications and networking technology? Attend a conference hosted by the research and education (R&E) community and you won’t be disappointed.
Many of the same folks that make the SuperComputing conference one of my favorite yearly events have come together this week in The Netherlands for the annual TERENA Networking Conference – TNC2013.
So what do they have in store for everyone at this year’s event. Let’s see…they have a live video stream of all the sessions available for the world to watch. They have a conference website full of pictures, video and information that would make the biggest consumer electronics tradeshows jealous. And oh yes…a group of participating R&E networks just collaborated to light the world’s first ever trans-Atlantic 100G link for research and education between North America and Europe.
Here’s the press release the group issued today on the achievement. SURFnet CEO Erwin Bleumink unveiled the news during a keynote this morning at the show. Today’s news delivers on the groups promise to build such a network just over a month ago at the Internet2 Annual Meeting.
The R&E networks participating in the project are Internet2, NORDUnet, ESnet, SURFnet, CANARIE, and GÉANT. Ciena is providing photonic equipment for the ANA-100G pilot, which includes our recently released subsea version of 100G WaveLogic 3 (see It’s Here: Ciena unveils its Trans-Pacific 100G WaveLogic 3 submarine transponder for submarine networks). Juniper has also loaned some of its routing equipment as part of the demonstrations.
[Case Study: SURFnet and Ciena Deliver a Next-Generation Network]
Overall, the network on display this week at TNC2013 ties together points that include the conference site in Maastricht, Amsterdam, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Raleigh. Click on the below map to go see a site the group set up to actively monitor the demo traffic.
May 29, 2013
11:59 AM EDT
by
Ciena Government Solutions hosts Federal Partner Summit
Renee Reinke leads Ciena's vertical marketing for federal governments on a global basis, and has a background spanning engineering, product management and product marketing at several tier 1 U.S. service providers. Last week, Renee attended Ciena's annual CGSI Partner Summit in Maryland.
Last week Ciena’s U.S. government partners gathered on Maryland’s eastern shore for a day and a half of interactive discussions on our latest technology and to hear about trends in government’s use of networking technology. The annual Ciena Government Solutions, Inc. (CGSI) Partner Summit is held each spring as a venue for partners and Ciena specialists to exchange ideas on growing our business in the coming year.
For those of you not familiar with CGSI, it is a wholly owned Ciena subsidiary serving the unique networking infrastructure needs of the U.S. Federal sector. CGSI leverages Ciena’s portfolio to provide comprehensive solutions tailored towards U.S. federal, civilian, defense and research and education networks.
We had a robust mix of partner companies represented this representing a range of solutions providers from dark fiber to fully managed voice and data services to the U.S. Federal Government.
This year, we were thrilled to have Jill Singer, former NRO CIO as our keynote speaker. Jill talked about current...
Read More
May 24, 2013
7:39 AM EDT
by
BT and Ciena Light 800G Super-Channel across 410km link in UK
In the never-ending quest to squeeze more bandwidth out of a wavelength of light, Ciena and BT yesterday announced the successful transmission of a stunning 800G super-channel across BT's core optical network (here's the press release).
This bleeding-edge trial was conducted in March, and also included the transmission of simultaneous coherent optical signals at a variety of speeds, including 40G, 100G, 200G, 400G as well as the 800G super-channel -- all using Ciena's WaveLogic 3 coherent technology embedded in our 6500 Packet-Optical Platform.
What makes this networking feat so extraordinary is the conditions of the test. This trail was not conducted in a pristine and sterilized lab environment. BT intentionally chose a 410km high Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD) fiber link on its optical network between BT's Adastral Park Research and Development Centre in Ipswich and the iconic BT Tower in Central London -- a link that was in fact previously unsuitable for traditional non-coherent transmission at 10G speeds (quite a testament to the power of Ciena's WaveLogic 3 coherent technology).
The news is a confirmation of sorts to BT's previously stated intent to remain at the leading edge of networking speeds. Back in late 2011 when BT originally picked Ciena as its 100G supplier, the company was already expressing the need to move to 400G speeds in the future (see BT picks Ciena 100G for 21CN deployment, talks 400G).
Details of the trial
Using Ciena's WaveLogic 3 coherent optical chipset, Ciena and BT lit a series of ultra-high speed wavelengths across the 410km span using both single and super-channel techniques. The 800G transmission is believed to be the world's first successful field trial of an 800G super-channel. 200G, 400G and 800G speeds were accomplished using a 16QAM modulation format introduced in WaveLogic 3. For more information on the various WaveLogic 3 modulation formats and their uses, watch this video on WaveLogic 3 modulation.
A 16-QAM modulation format enables 200G capacities vs the 100G capacity of QPSK
In one part of the trial, 16QAM-based 400G traffic was carried over the network alongside adjacent 40G and 100G wavelengths that were using a QPSK modulation format, showing the ability to migrate to higher speeds on a wavelength-by-wavelength basis.
[Read more: Coherent Optical Processing for High-Capacity Networks]
Other combinations of simultaneous wavelengths were tested as well, including...
Read More
May 22, 2013
8:20 AM EDT
by
In the Lab with the Ciena 6500’s new packet features
Last week Ciena unveiled significant new packet switching capabilities on our flagship 6500 Packet-Optical platform (see Ciena 6500: Extreme Packet Makeover Edition). The new capabilities, branded as Ciena’s E-Suite packet modules for the 6500, fully round out the switching proficiencies for a platform that has already won awards and acclaim for its 100G coherent and OTN switching capabilities.
But what exactly are these new packet switching capabilities? To get those answers, we visited the very lab in Ottawa where these new capabilities were developed.
In that lab we found Gerald Smallegange, a senior systems and solutions architect for the 6500 platform. Gerald has been with the company for 20 years, and was part of the packet team that developed the first ever packet-optical cards for the 6500 platform (which included resilient packet ring, L2SS, and L2 MOTR).
These days, Gerald is focusing on the latest generation of packet switching capabilities for the 6500, and he was more than happy to walk us through a demo from Ciena’s Ottawa R&D playground in the below video.
If you’re more of the white paper and spec sheet type, you’re in luck, as Ciena has provided a wide variety of detailed specs for the new packet features. I suggest starting off at the completely revamped 6500 Family product page, which includes some great pictures of the various chassis and card options on the 6500 as well as a nifty 3D product rendering.
There is also a brand new product page for our eMOTR cards. These Ethernet-enabled Muxponder modules are...
Read More
May 21, 2013
11:55 AM EDT
by
Infographic: The history of optical and Ethernet
This week the communications industry will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of Ethernet, with many descending on the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, for this week's Ethernet Innovation Summit to celebrate.
Ethernet's seemingly constant state of evolution -- from a limited technology to connect LAN devices into today's increasingly dominant connectivity service across the WAN -- is a story that is well-told. But what I find interesting in that story is the parallel evolution of another technology, optical networking.
The two technologies are siblings of sorts, with fiber-optics being the older brother seven years senior (fiber-optic communications was born in 1966, Ethernet in 1973). And as they've grown up, they have become increasingly intertwined.
In the below infographic, we've laid out the history and evolution of both technologies, including major milestones for each. As they continue to evolve and grow, it seems certain that optical and Ethernet technologies will become both more a part of each other, and more a part of our lives.
Click on the below image to view or download the full infographic.
May 14, 2013
1:10 PM EDT
by
Ciena 6500: Extreme Packet Makeover Edition
It’s time to rethink everything you know about Ciena’s 6500 Packet Optical Platform. You’ve known the 6500 as our flagship platform for next-gen optical transport, and for good reason. The winner of multiple industry awards over the last few years, the 6500 has been the driving force behind the industry’s coherent optical technology revolution, embedding Ciena WaveLogic technology to enable the wave of 40G and 100G deployments we are seeing around the world.
Today, the 6500 becomes much more than that.
This morning, Ciena has introduced significant new packet capabilities for the 6500 aimed at directly addressing the incredible growth of business Ethernet services and the inevitable convergence of the packet and optical layers of the network.
These new integrated packet-optical capabilities provide very efficient Ethernet aggregation and transport over an optical infrastructure, flattening the network and consolidating equipment needs by allowing Carrier Ethernet edge devices to network directly into the optical infrastructure. This means fewer devices to manage, lower power and space requirements, and faster, more automated turn-up and management of business Ethernet services -- from the network access to the metro core.
The details: New packet switching on the 6500
Today’s new packet capabilities come in two forms: new packet enabled cards for the 6500, and the integration of our packet operating system into the 6500.
Ciena’s Service Aware Operating System (SAOS) software is already ubiquitous across Ciena’s entire packet networking portfolio and deployed on more than 300,000 platforms worldwide. By extending SAOS onto the 6500, service providers can now seamlessly provision and manage carrier Ethernet services across our packet and 6500 families – from the network access to the metro core – using our OneControl unified management system.
Implementation of those packet service capabilities on the 6500 is enabled via Ciena’s new E-Suite packet modules, and include both blade-based packet switching modules for relatively modest footprint applications and fabric-based packet switching modules for higher density sites and mesh connectivity.
The E-Suite family
Within the E-Suite family, the blade-based packet switching cards, called our eMOTR cards, come in two versions: a dual-slot card optimized for GE services and a single-slot card optimized for 10G services.
In addition, a new eSw 4x10G card...
Read More-
Waves of change on the horizon in our optical industry
June 10, 2013
-
In the Lab with the Ciena 6500’s new packet features
May 22, 2013
-
Ciena 6500: Extreme Packet Makeover Edition
May 14, 2013
-
It’s Here: Ciena unveils its Trans-Pacific 100G WaveLogic 3 submarine transponder for submarine networks
April 23, 2013
-
New P-OTS survey puts Ciena ahead of our biggest competitors
March 18, 2013
-
Coherent optical turns 5: Here’s how it was made
March 15, 2013
-
Take better business decisions with GeoAnalytics
February 28, 2013
-
7 Reasons 2013 is the Year of the Network
February 26, 2013
-
Network Monetization: Build the business of your network
February 20, 2013
-
How much bandwidth does Broadcast HD video use?
September 26, 2011 -
BT and Ciena Light 800G Super-Channel across 410km link in UK
May 24, 2013 -
In the Lab with the Ciena 6500’s new packet features
May 22, 2013 -
R&E community lights first 100G trans-Atlantic route for research and education
June 3, 2013 -
Waves of change on the horizon in our optical industry
June 10, 2013 -
Ciena 6500: Extreme Packet Makeover Edition
May 14, 2013 -
What is the Future of Carrier Ethernet?
June 6, 2013 -
Infographic: The history of optical and Ethernet
May 21, 2013 -
Ciena Government Solutions hosts Federal Partner Summit
May 29, 2013 -
New P-OTS survey puts Ciena ahead of our biggest competitors
March 18, 2013
