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CIENA INTRODUCES TRANSPARENT SERVICE MULTIPLEXING TECHNOLOGY TO ITS LIGHTWORKS TOOLKIT

New Service-Enabling Technology Allows Carriers to Sell Transparent Services Without Consuming Lower-Speed Wavelengths; CIENA to Demonstrate at OFC

Ciena Corporation (CIEN) today announced that it has introduced Transparent Service Multiplexing™ to its LightWorks Toolkit™ for New Optical Services. Ciena's Transparent Service Multiplexing (TSM) technology enables carriers to sell transparent wavelength services without using an entire wavelength for the lower speed traffic or introducing new, proprietary data rates every time a new service is offered. TSM is expected to be available on Ciena solutions beginning in the third calendar quarter of 2000 and will be demonstrated at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) in Baltimore, March 7-9.

TSM technology will enable four tributary inputs of either OC-3/12 (STM-1/4) or OC-48 (STM-16) signals to be transparently multiplexed onto a single wavelength of OC-48 (STM-16) or OC-192 (STM-64), respectively. TSM modules also will allow cascading, meaning OC-3/12 (STM-1/4) signals can be multiplexed up to OC-192 (STM-64) rates.

As opposed to traditional SONET/SDH multiplexing, Ciena's "transparent" multiplexing enables optical services to be delivered without compromising the SONET/SDH overheads of individual tributaries that make up the aggregate. Enabling multiple signals to be transparently multiplexed, transported and demultiplexed means signals are delivered as if they were connected directly to the destination equipment by their own unique wavelength, maintaining the customers' signal security and integrity. TSM is ideal for delivering IP traffic, wavelength services and other new optical services that Ciena's LightWorks Toolkit enables.

The economic benefit of Transparent Service Multiplexing is an equipment savings of up to 50 percent, plus the operational savings realized by eliminating the management of stand-alone multiplexers, which are no longer required.

"For carriers, Ciena's TSM interfaces are substantially more cost effective than transporting lower-rate signals on individual wavelengths," said John Griebling, vice president of network engineering and operations at Enron Broadband Services, which is set to trial Ciena's TSM technology this spring. "The efficiency of Transparent Service Multiplexing will enable us to sell wavelength services at even better price points while giving our customers confidence that their data stays independent of other traffic."

Ciena's TSM technology enables density of up to 384 low-speed ports within a single terminal and leverages key intellectual property in Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs).

"This is a perfect example of how our customers can apply Ciena's ASIC technology to build market-leading services," said Steve Alexander, Ciena's chief technology officer. "The efficiencies that TSM enables significantly drive down the cost of delivering OC-3, 12, 48 and 192 virtual fiber services at a time when demand for such services is soaring. When combined with other technologies in the LightWorks Toolkit, carriers have the ability to use networking intelligence to create and brand true next-generation services."

Ciena recently introduced its LightWorks Toolkit as a series of optics-, silicon- and software-based tools that network operators can put together to build and deliver unique, dynamic optical services. Other innovations in Ciena's LightWorks Toolkit include Wavelength Binding™, Flexible Concatenation™, and VSR Optics, which can be used for services such as dynamic wavelength bursting and OC-"any" services.

TSM technology will be backward compatible with existing Ciena systems.