Innovative Access Solutions
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Dear Colleague, An Interview With RAD's Chief Strategy Officer
Q: What are the major trends in the access segment of the industry today? A: There is a lot of buzz about Ethernet
access and end-to-end pseudowire applications, as well as convergence
for cellular backhaul. A: It is correct to say that "basic" transparent LAN services have been available for a number of years, in many cases using SDH or ATM core networks or just fiber links. The issue today isn't about adding an Ethernet interface to a switch or add-drop multiplexer but delivering multiple services over an Ethernet access infrastructure - Ethernet Local Loop (over DSL, fiber or wireless) and metro networks. Industry efforts to standardize Ethernet as a carrier-class service have also added to the legitimacy and interest in managed Ethernet access. Q: What is the importance of Ethernet as an access infrastructure? A: On the one hand, core networks have been migrating to packet-switched networks (IP/MPLS); on the other hand, user applications are being consolidated around the IP protocol. Therefore, it is natural for service providers to look for an efficient bridge between the user traffic and their core networks. IP runs on top of Ethernet and this technology (Ethernet) offers the most efficient way to deliver packet-based services. Ethernet is less expensive than other alternatives and is better optimized for effective bandwidth utilization. Lastly, it is easier to realize economies of scale if all the traffic runs over a common infrastructure. Q: What about mission-critical legacy traffic such as voice and real-time video or serial data from SCADA equipment? How will an Ethernet access network support these services?
Q: What is the difference between TDMoIP and pseudowire technology? A: TDMoIP (and TDMoMPLS) are two of the implementations of pseudowire standards set by the IETF, as well as the ITU-T and the MPLS/Frame Relay/ATM Alliance. Originally pseudowire (initially known as the Martini draft) defined the emulation of Layer 1 and Layer 2 protocols in the core IP/MPLS network. RAD was the first company to actually deploy TDM pseudowire (we have shipped more than 30,000 TDM pseudowire ports) and focus on pseudowire in the access. In February 2005 at the interoperability showcase at the MPLS World Congress in Paris, we demonstrated a range of pseudowire access solutions for TDM, ATM and Ethernet. Q: Why is pseudowire required in the access? Can't inter-working be performed at the network edge? A: Even though pseudowire in the access is an emerging development, there is already a good business case for extending the MPLS network to the customer premises. By enabling the MPLS path end-to-end (instead of just edge-to-edge), both the carrier and end user benefit from MPLS traffic engineering, OAM, quality assurance, and provisioning to the customer premises. Having said that, I foresee many instances where you will continue to have mixed Ethernet access and an IP/MPLS core. It all depends, first of all, on the requirements for quality assurance and provisioning. Q: What are the challenges in cellular backhaul? A: There are very interesting changes in cellular infrastructure solutions. Typically 2G is a low bandwidth network. There is no need for high-speed backhaul networks to transport 2G traffic. With the migration to 2.5G and 3G and widespread deployment of these networks, mobile operators are facing the challenge of how to ensure effective backhaul - without simply adding more circuits or larger pipes. Moreover, 3G standardized on ATM and IP interfaces for the Node B base station. Add co-location to the mix and you are looking at creating new network topologies that will take advantage of DSL, Ethernet Metro and IP/MPLS, in addition to E1/T1 leased line circuits that were sufficient for 2G. The opportunity to benefit from different access infrastructures based on price and availability also raises certain technological issues that must be resolved. Take, for instance, the necessity to regenerate the clock across a packet switched network to maintain synchronization. RAD has been focusing on these problems for several years and we have acquired a lot of know-how that has been translated into a product portfolio, which successfully addresses the problem. Q: As CSO, what are your objectives for the company? A: The appointment of a CSO hopefully will ensure that RAD will be a strategy-driven vendor. The access segment of the industry is no longer propelled by "box-moving" but by strategic relationships among carriers and the vendor-channel partnership. My role will be to formulate strategy at the corporate level and oversee its effective implementation. I plan to further develop the already excellent relationships we have with major carriers such as France Telecom, BT, Deutsche Telekom, Japan Telecom, among others, as well as with key accounts and the vendor community. This includes commercial cooperation and R&D collaboration. Carriers have begun to shift their focus to access networks now that the core issues have been clarified. The big questions - and challenges - lay in defining the next generation access network. This is my main task, and also RAD's - to lead in creating the access network of the future.
RAD Demonstrates Intelligent Ethernet Demarcation at SUPERCOMM
RAD at CommunicAsia 2005: Network Convergence Using Existing Infrastructure
RAD Participates in Light Reading Events
Erenis Delivers Telephony and Internet over IP to Paris Public Housing
Australian ISP Uses RAD Converters to Extend Ethernet Service Coverage A nationwide Australian ISP has selected an innovative
and cost-effective RAD solution enabling the quick deploy Ethernet
services over the incumbent carrier's access network to its own
rapidly growing client base. Read
the full story Vmux-400 A-bis Optimization Gateway German, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, and Portuguese 2005 Catalogs
DataFlow 61 The Summer 2005 edition of RAD's DataFlow newsletter can be downloaded in PDF format at: http://www.rad.com/Home/0,6583,12784,00.html Industry Insights In the May
2005 issue: Next Generation Networks; Maximizing Leased Line
Usage; Turkish Telecoms Take Off Sincerely, |
Dr.
Yuri Gittik was recently named RAD Data Communications' first 
A:
RAD has pioneered the development of 
At
the SUPERDemo, which was held under the auspices of the Metro Ethernet
Forum (MEF) at SUPERCOMM 2005 in Chicago, RAD Data Communications
demonstrated a solution that allows carriers to provide different
levels of Ethernet service for business customers over an Ethernet
backbone. 
At
CommunicAsia 2005 in Singapore, RAD exhibited a suite of innovative
access product solutions that enables service providers and their
enterprise customers to benefit from network convergence - using
existing network infrastructure. RAD's access products are specially
designed and engineered to support any service over any infrastructure,
providing the broadest service coverage while ensuring the lowest
possible operating and capital expenses. 
RAD
participated this month in two high-profile conferences on "The
Future of Carrier-Class Ethernet 2005" organized by Light Reading,
held in London on June 28 and in Barcelona on June 30. In addition,
RAD Product Line Manager Ramon Horkany participated in a Light Reading
Webinar on June 1 on the subject of "Making the Most of SONET/SDH
to Deliver Ethernet."
Erenis,
a rising new operator that is hooking up Parisian buildings to provide
telephone and Internet access services to customers with limited
income, has deployed RAD's IPmux TDM over IP (TDMoIP) gateways to
transport voice traffic over an IP Ethernet Metropolitan Area Network
(MAN). 
The
Vmux-400 enables mobile operators to cut bandwidth requirements
and reduce Opex and Capex on base transceiver station (BTS) to base
station controller (BSC) cellular backhaul. When used in conjunction
with RAD's Vmux voice compression gateways, it offers cellular operators
a comprehensive, single-vendor solution for dramatically maximizing
bandwidth utilization and reducing transport costs across the entire
GSM backhaul route. 
RAD's
2005 catalog can now be downloaded in a variety of languages in
PDF format from our international corporate site at: