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CIENA ADDS RATE-ADAPTIVE GIGABIT ETHERNET TO ITS SERVICE-ENABLING LIGHTWORKS TOOLKIT

New CIENA Technology Gives Service Providers the Power To Offer Customers "Any-Size" Gigabit Ethernet Services

Ciena Corporation (CIEN) today announced at the National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference that it has added Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet technology to the LightWorks Toolkit™ for Optical Services, Ciena's suite of software-, silicon- and optics-based technologies designed to enable new optical service offerings.

Ciena's Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet technology uses software and ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) to enable service providers to sell "any-size" Gigabit Ethernet services in increments of 50Mbps (STS-1), up to 1.25Gbps. The service rate is adaptive to end-users' needs, allowing service providers to tailor pricing to a finer granularity of data rates. Additionally, the technology enables providers to transport fractional Gigabit Ethernet traffic from up to 10 different customers over a single OC-48/STM-16 (2.5Gbps) wavelength. As a result, service providers can create a wide range of customized optical service options for end-users and deliver those services over more efficient access and core networks that leverage the economies of Gigabit Ethernet transmission.

"Ciena has recognized that Gigabit Ethernet quickly is becoming part of the telecom traffic mix, where SONET- and SDH-framed data used to dominate," said Alex Benik, analyst at The Yankee Group. "Traditionally, Gigabit Ethernet pipes are bursty in nature and do not maximize available bandwidth. Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet technology allows service providers to pack a wavelength tightly with multiple customers, while presenting end-users with more granular service choices."

"This translates to a better focus on the customer, more revenues per wavelength, and allows service providers to avoid wasting channels on low-speed services," Benik continued. "Ciena clearly understands the evolving network architectures and, more importantly, the economic dynamics shaping the intelligent optical network."

The concept of Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet is similar to fractional T-carrier services, where an end-user might require more than 100Mbps of service, but less than 1Gbps. However, the intelligence embedded in Ciena systems is designed to allow this bandwidth to be dynamically allocated with the click of a mouse from a remote network management center. This enables service providers to respond to changing customer needs in a fast, efficient and tailored manner.

Initially available on Ciena's MultiWave Metro™ systems, Ciena plans to integrate Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet capabilities directly into its MultiWave CoreStream™ system for intelligent long-haul optical transport, and MultiWave CoreDirector™ intelligent optical core switching systems. With this technology, incoming network traffic on Gigabit Ethernet signals is transported through metropolitan area networks and can be directly connected to CoreStream for efficient transport across long-haul networks, providing end-to-end, optically protected connections for Gigabit Ethernet customers. When Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet signals are passed from MultiWave Metro to Ciena's CoreDirector switch, this synergistic combination of systems allows independent allocation of constituent Gigabit Ethernet services in 50Mbps increments.

"Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet supports Ciena's vision of an Intelligent Optical Internet, in which a range of service levels and priorities are dynamically allocated across the access network and the optical core," said Patrick Nettles, Ciena's president and CEO. "With this technology, Ciena is taking Gigabit Ethernet services to a level that should allow more customized service choices for the customer and optimal network efficiency for the provider."

Rate-Adaptive Gigabit Ethernet technology is expected to be available for customer trials early in calendar 2001. Ciena's LightWorks Toolkit also will include intelligent networking capabilities such as Wavelength Binding, Flexible Concatenation, Transparent Service Multiplexing, Optical Priority Provisioning and Very Short Reach Optics. These technologies are designed to equip service providers with network flexibility required to create and deliver differentiating, next-generation optical services.