Ethernet Network Termination Units and Demarcation Devices

RAD's ETX-102 and ETX-202 Ethernet Network Termination Units (NTUs) are intelligent carrier-owned and operated demarcation devices, installed at subscriber locations to extend and transport Fast Ethernet (FE) or Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) traffic over fiber.

 

Part of RAD’s unique EtherAccess® portfolio, these Ethernet NTUs incorporate standard Carrier Ethernet attributes, including granular bandwidth provisioning with traffic classification, prioritization and rate limitation per user port, starting at the service hand-off points. Supporting advanced link and service Ethernet OAM schemes for proactive quality-of-service (QoS) and SLA monitoring over the entire service path, the ETX-102 and ETX-202 serve as Ethernet demarcation devices to provide extensive fault detection and diagnostic capabilities to assist carriers in addressing diverse client needs and offering binding SLAs with guaranteed quality-of-service (QoS).

• Extends carriers’ reach and promotes Ethernet ubiquity over fiber

• Single demarcation device reduces capital expenditures (CapEx) by delivering Carrier Ethernet services without requiring additional equipment deployments

• Offers end-to-end control, QoS guarantees and SLA enforcement to ensure carrier-class Ethernet services

• Supports automated diagnostics and remote service management up to customer premises, to reduce OpEx (operating expenditures) by eliminating technician truck rolls

• Allows tailor-made service packages with granular bandwidth provisioning

ETX-102 and ETX-202 Fast Ethernet (FE) and Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) network termination units are part of RAD’s EtherAccess® suite of sophisticated products, designed to enable service providers to utilize existing infrastructure in delivering new Ethernet services, thereby reducing their service costs and improving customer retention. ETX Ethernet NTUs extend the service provider’s reach over fiber while facilitating effective end-to-end management of differentiated services such as inter-office LAN connectivity, dedicated Internet access and virtual private networks (VPNs).

 

In addition, the ETX-102 and ETX-202 enable seamless Ethernet access over different media by supporting various fiber/copper combinations with multiple UTP- and SFP-based ports.

RAD’s intelligent demarcation approach allows complete network visibility up to subscriber endpoints, while facilitating remote management of diverse services, regardless of the various protocols involved in the traffic path, the underlying networks or number of operators who own them. The ETX line includes Ethernet network interface devices (E-NIDs) that are owned and operated by the service provider and installed at the customer premises. They provide clear demarcation between carrier and customer networks in FTTB (Fiber To The Business) deployments, while incorporating sophisticated functionalities to allow consistent user experience, proactive service management and SLA enforcement.

ETX-102 and ETX-202 E-NTUs enable site-to-site and multi-site connectivity according to MEF (Metro Ethernet Forum)-9 specifications for Ethernet private line (EPL) and Ethernet private LAN (EPLAN) service topologies. Enabling QoS attributes such as traffic prioritization with per-port rate limitation, The ETX Ethernet network demarcation devices maximize bandwidth utilization and ensure efficient congestion management while meeting diverse user requirements. Differentiated services are delivered with dynamic traffic classification according to parameters such as ingress port number, VLAN priority, ToS or DSCP.

ETX E-NTUs support VLAN stacking (also known as double-tagging or Q-in-Q) mechanism, enabling the service provider to separate traffic from different users by assigning different service VLAN IDs per user or per service. VLAN Stacking preserves customers VLAN IDs and allow transparent traffic delivery within the network.

The ETX E-NTUs provide full Ethernet OAM support, facilitating advanced diagnostics for all sections of the service path:

Ethernet link OAM based on 802.3-2005 (formerly 802.3ah), is applied to a single link such as the one between a customer location and a network. It supports link performance monitoring and remote fault indication, including remote loopback, dying gasp and retrieval of MIB parameters.

 

Ethernet service OAM based on IEEE 802.1ag and ITU-T Y.1731, is applied to any service path and provides fault monitoring, continuity check, non-intrusive loopback and performance measurements such as Frame Delay, Frame Delay Variation (“Jitter”), Frame Loss and Availability.

 

In addition to the non-intrusive OAM-based loopback testing, the ETX Ethernet network termination units support Layer-2 loopback for link integrity diagnostics, performed per VLAN or EVC, whereby the source and destination MAC addresses are swapped without disrupting the traffic flows that are not being tested.

High-level service resiliency and five nines (99.999%) reliability require uplink redundancy. The ETX Ethernet NTUs provide this capability by supporting link aggregation (1+1) based on 802.3ad as well as dual homing (1:1) redundancy modes.

ETX-102 and ETX-202 incorporate flexible management capabilities, including local management using the RS-232 port and remote in-band management using the network or user ports. Supported management applications include Telnet, Web browser and RAD’S SNMP-based management system, RADview.

 

Security protocols supported by ETX Ethernet NTU include SNMPv3, RADIUS, SSL and SSH, while management traffic is separated from user data using a dedicated management VLAN