Powerful new chipsets, metro architecture and mobile backhaul solutions deliver expansive bandwidth, efficiency and agility

Growth in cloud computing, network virtualization and openness have created a new web-scale dynamic that is significantly changing the evolution of today’s network architectures. To address this dynamic, Ciena® (NYSE: CIEN) is introducing new capabilities that allow service providers, Internet content and cloud providers to deliver richer application experiences to their customers and connect massive amounts of users to content. These innovations embrace the web-scale IT philosophy, delivering increased bandwidth and improved economics through greater efficiency, network automation and agility, and include extending the reach and capacity of submarine networks, simplifying and cost reducing metro and regional networks, and speeding deployment of small cell backhaul to improve coverage in an increasingly mobile-first world.

By supporting the concepts of web-scale IT in networking, Ciena is arming network providers to take advantage of the trends associated with this web-scale dynamic. Building on Ciena’s industry leadership in optical networking, packet and software and leveraging its OPⁿ® architecture approach to transform capacity into capability, these new capabilities include new WaveLogic 3 Extreme and Nano chipsets, the Coherent Select architecture for metro applications, and new small cell/mobile backhaul capabilities.

Key Facts:

  • Ciena’s new WaveLogic 3 Extreme chipset provides maximum bandwidth at any distance for Ciena’s 6500 and 5430 converged packet optical platforms. It doubles capacity of metro and regional networks and combined with Flexible Grid technology has enabled up to 85% greater capacity in submarine networks. Already deployed by Verizon, Southern Cross, Japan-U.S. Cable Network and Trans Pacific Express, these enhancements are essential for meeting web-scale demands in metro, regional and trans-oceanic networks.
  • The new WaveLogic 3 Nano chipset, being implemented across Ciena’s 6500 and 8700 platforms, recognizes that some web-scale applications need power and space efficiency more than raw capacity. WaveLogic 3 Nano is custom-tailored for metro economics, allowing high 100G densities in a much smaller footprint and using lower electrical power consumption.
  • Ciena’s new Coherent Select photonic architecture creates a simple, flexible metro architecture that is purpose-built for high-capacity user-to-content connectivity essential for today’s web-scale dynamics. Leveraging sophisticated software, Coherent Select paired with the native receiver tunability of WaveLogic chipsets, enables service providers to cost-effectively bring 100G closer to the metro using a simple-to-deploy connectivity model that provides the right economics for wide deployment scalability.
  • Content-rich web-scale applications are increasingly consumed via mobile devices. Addressing mobile congestion, coverage, and quality of experience issues, Ciena’s enhanced mobile backhaul solutions help mobile operators and wholesale backhaul providers rapidly deploy wireless small cells, both indoor and outdoor. Ciena’s new 3904 and 3905 Service Delivery Switches leverage Ciena’s field-proven packet leadership to ensure the backhaul portion of the small cell radio antennas is always available and that service level agreements (SLAs) are maintained.

Executive Comments:

  • “Internet content providers are driving a boost in telecom spending and the way services are delivered. This, in turn, is changing the requirements of network providers of all kinds – whether they are traditional telecom service providers, OTT providers or data center firms. Ciena is making the needed investments to build unique and compelling solutions to solve these specific problems – like lower cost metro 100G and architectures that scale in both physical size and programmability.”
    -          Andrew Schmitt, Principal Analyst, Carrier Transport Networking, Infonetics Research - now part of IHS Inc.
  • “Networks are now facing the realities of the ‘web-scale effect.’ Cloud services, on-demand networking and virtualization are becoming more ubiquitous and businesses expect connect, compute and storage services to be available 24/7. With Ciena’s new coherent chipsets, metro architecture and backhaul solutions, our customers can arm their networks with the bandwidth, efficiency and agility that is required in today’s web-scale world.”
    –         Steve Alexander, Senior Vice President and CTO, Ciena

Webinar:

  • On March 11 at 1 p.m. ET, Ciena will host a webinar featuring Steve Alexander, Senior VP and CTO and Rick Dodd, Senior Vice President, Strategic Markets, to discuss these web-scale dynamics and how network operators can meet demand for both agile and expansive bandwidth. To register for the webinar, click here.

Supporting Resources:

About CienaCiena (NYSE: CIEN) is the network specialist. We collaborate with customers worldwide to unlock the strategic potential of their networks and fundamentally change the way they perform and compete. Ciena leverages its deep expertise in packet and optical networking and distributed software automation to deliver solutions in alignment with its OPn architecture for next-generation networks. We enable a high-scale, programmable infrastructure that can be controlled and adapted by network-level applications, and provide open interfaces to coordinate computing, storage and network resources in a unified, virtualized environment. For updates on Ciena news, follow us on Twitter @Ciena or on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/ciena. Investors are encouraged to review the Investors section of our website at www.ciena.com/investors, where we routinely post press releases, SEC filings, recent news, financial results, and other announcements. From time to time we exclusively post material information to this website along with other disclosure channels that we use.

Note to Ciena Investors
Forward-looking statements. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof; and Ciena's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its Report on Form 10-K, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 19, 2014 Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Ciena's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.