EtherMap Sonet transport range extended

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Jul 16, 2002

The latest EtherMap-48 device brings together EtherMap, Sonet/SDH transport and EoS mapping.

A new 4-channel Gigabit Ethernet mapper from TranSwitch Corp has Sonet/SDH framing and strong add/drop multiplexer capability.

The EtherMap-48 is another device in the range called EtherMap.

Sonet/SDH networks will now be able to have new services developed by OEMs and service providers.

This highly integrated mapping device is targeted toward carrier access platforms with flexible Ethernet provisioning capabilities in existing metro optical networks.

Carriers will now be able to satisfy growing metro data applications cost effectively while avoiding the complexity associated with legacy data transport.

Additionally, carriers will be able to take advantage of extensive Sonet/SDH network management and protection capabilities.

The EtherMap-48 VLSI device supports mapping of multiple Gigabit or Fast Ethernet traffic and storage area network (SAN) data streams into the Sonet/SDH transport network at OC-48/OC-12 rates using Generic Framing Procedure (GFP) or Link Access Procedure for SDH (LAPS).

TranSwitch's EtherMap-48 blends exceptional Sonet/SDH processing capabilities with optimised Ethernet payload transport to support interfaces comprised of up to four ports of Gigabit Ethernet and up to 24 ports of Fast Ethernet traffic.

Mapping of block-encoded clients for SAN applications is also provided to support up to four 8B/10B encoded GigE, Fibre Channel or ESCON clients.

"The EtherMap-48's combination of EoS mapping and Sonet/SDH transport will permit OEMs to more effectively satisfy emerging Gigabit WAN initiatives being launched by service providers by allowing them to build more cost-effective standards-based EoS features into their new or existing platforms.

OEMs and service providers will be able to leverage the EtherMap-48's powerful features set and dramatically improve key areas of OEM platform design, namely cost, space, software integration and power", stated Robert Schwaber, TranSwitch's Product Marketing Manager for metro products.

Current implementations for combining Sonet/SDH framing, Ethernet MACs, EoS mapping and path switching requires multiple discrete devices, including FPGAs and development of extensive management software in proprietary implementations.

The EtherMap-48 greatly simplifies this approach by consolidating and optimising these functions using an embedded RISC processor.

The RISC-core and software suite permit outstanding data collection capabilities, thus alleviating the need for detailed device register manipulation.

The EtherMap-48 incorporates additional functions for Sonet/SDH framing, overhead and pointer processing and embedded RISC intelligence into a single device for EoS mapping.

EtherMap-48 also supports SAN data transport through transparent mode Generic Framing Procedure (GFP) for block-encoded client traffic in addition to the more commonly used GFP framed mode.

This expands the application range for using the Sonet/SDH infrastructure to transport a variety of data types.

By incorporating GigE MACs (media access controllers) with flow control, the EtherMap-48 supports over-subscription of Ethernet streams.

In addition, the EtherMap-48 handles traffic using either standard or virtual concatenation and can optionally function in Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme (LCAS) mode for hitless rate adaptation to dynamically alter bandwidth capacity.

The device supports multiple configurations of virtual concatenation groups (VCGs) to support customer requirements.

In response to network conditions such as path segment failures or periods of bursty LAN/SAN traffic, service providers can better manage and deploy customer-allocated bandwidth to achieve more efficient metro ring usage.

The EtherMap-48 allows for compensation of up to 50ms of differential delay during alignment of VCGs.

To achieve this, a glueless SDRAM controller interface that requires no external timing or logic is provided for easy implementation.

Sonet/SDH payloads may be groomed or looped back using dual high/low order STS-1/VC-3 level cross-connects, which preserves any contiguous concatenation group and allow the path flow to be provisioned to best satisfy the application requirements.

The EtherMap-48 has been designed to work seamlessly with commercially available Ethernet and SAN switching components to enable comprehensive designs for carrier class applications.

The EtherMap-48 cost-effectively bridges the gap between Sonet/SDH and Ethernet LANs, permitting transparent full or fractional Ethernet transport.

"Service providers are delayed in the execution of native Optical Ethernet initiatives, while at the same time have chosen to continue with Sonet/SDH in the short-term for stepping up their Ethernet WAN deployments.

EoS technology augments the continuing notion of Sonet/SDH as the primary WAN backbone layer that can generate additional immediate revenue.

This is especially true for VDSL aggregation, IP DSLAM uplinks, premise multi-tenant units (MTU), enhanced ADMs, terminal multiplexers and wireless backhaul electronics", concluded Schwaber.

TranSwitch will provide a complete set of support materials for the EtherMap-48, including an easy-to-use API-based device driver, application notes, BSDL file, IBIS model, evaluation kit, and a comprehensive document set - all backed by TranSwitch's world-class application engineering capabilities.

The EtherMap-48 VLSI device is implemented in 0.13-micron technology with 1.3V core and 2.5/3.3V I/O in CMOS rated for the industrial temperature range (-40 to +85C).

The device is scheduled for customer trials in Q1 03 and will be priced at $550 each for quantities of 1000 units.

(Updated by CR, May 2007).