Today’s telecom service providers are confronting powerful market drivers that are challenging their network operations and business models. First, a plethora of new technology options are now available to upgrade legacy networks, but this creates interoperability issues between existing and new hardware and software. Second, constant growth in customer demand for bandwidth is challenging service providers to create networks that can economically keep pace. Lastly, continuous innovation in the services and applications that customers require adds another layer of complexity. Designing an agile network that can quickly accommodate new end-user services is critical.
The good news is for those service providers that have an existing Fujitsu FLASHWAVE® 9500 network: they are in a much better position to evolve their network than those based on other legacy infrastructure.
To facilitate this evolution, Fujitsu has developed the 1FINITY™ platform to take service providers and their networks into the future. 1FINITY is an open, modular blade-based portfolio of products that provides flexibility, scalability and programmability to customers in a pay-as-you-grow business model.
A key product in the 1FINITY family is the S100, a 1.2 Tbps Ethernet switch capable of supporting 1GbE, 10GbE or 100GbE interfaces. There are three different scenarios that illustrate how a FW9500 network can leverage the S100 to effectively grow and meet future demands.
SONET Configuration
Consider a network where each FW9500 is configured as a SONET multiservice provisioning platform (MSPP). Most service providers have found that as their network grows, it is more economical to convert the protocol from SONET to Ethernet as soon as possible and add support for Ethernet switching functions. With the FW9500, you can add an Ethernet over Anything (EoX) gateway that performs this protocol conversion. Then, you can augment the FW9500 with a 1FINITY S100 to provide Ethernet switching to a 10GbE or 100GbE interface. The FW9500 can also provide DWDM capabilities if that function is needed.
Packet-Optical Configuration
Consider a FW9500 network deployed as a 10GE packet-optical transport platform (POTP) for wireless backhaul or business services. In this scenario, the FW9500 is a converged platform equipped with a switch fabric that provides Ethernet switching and DWDM functionality. As demand grows, the need for 100G outstrips the FW9500 10G capabilities. However, by augmenting the FW9500 with the S100, you can provide 10GbE to 100GbE aggregation and a direct connection to the FW9500 ROADM by using the 100GbE DWDM narrow-band module. This enables the FW9500 100G lambda capability to carry these aggregated services on a DWDM network while increasing the capacity of the existing ROADM network tenfold. Additionally, you free up card slots on the FW9500 because it becomes a ROADM-only system.
In an earlier application note, “Mobile Backhaul 100GbE Migration,” Fujitsu demonstrated how service providers can achieve a savings up to 44% in capital expenditure over the present mode of operation using this augmented network approach.
DWDM Configuration
Consider a FW9500 network that is deployed as a 10G ROADM network. In this scenario, the FW9500 simply provides DWDM functionality. As demand grows, the need for 100G and Ethernet switching services outstrips the FW9500 10G ROADM capabilities. By adding the S100 with a 100GbE DWDM narrow-band module, the network is transformed into a POTP network that provides carrier Ethernet services, such as E-Line and E-LAN, as well as 100G lambda services over the FW9500 ROADM.
Managing Your Network with the Fujitsu Virtuora Network Control (NC) Solution
In all of these scenarios, both the FLASHWAVE 9500 and 1FINITY S100 platforms can be managed by the Fujitsu Virtuora Network Control (NC) solution, a range of software products that enable you to build and grow a virtualized, programmable network. The Virtuora NC solution encompasses control, planning and design, operations and management, and service fulfillment and assurance functions.
Summary These three scenarios clearly show that starting your network evolution with Fujitsu’s FW9500 network has significant advantages. A FW9500 network enables you to meet the demand for interoperability, scalability and service innovation when upgrading your network. Augmenting an existing FW9500 network with the 1FINITY S100 allows you to leverage your infrastructure investment, grow your network economically and pave the way to 100G traffic based on packet switching technology.