Avici Implements Its Largest Optical Network Link

Terabit switch/router developer Avici Systems Inc. is offering the Terabit Switch/Router (TSR) in the largest optical network link constructed to date. The network connects points of presence in Los Angeles and Portland, OR, a span of 960 miles. The network is part of the National Transparent Optical Network (NTON) managed by GST Telecommunications through its role in the NTON Consortium.

Sandia National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) developed the demonstration of the network for the SuperComputing '99 Show, where the Portland portion of the demonstration was based. Avici's patented composite links feature, which provides a single 160 Gbps trunk for IP traffic, is being used to connect the core of the testbed in Sandia National Laboratory through the NTON infrastructure to the ASCI booth located in Portland.

Avici's TSR can drive the path to the "speed-of-light" optical networking in IP networks such as the Internet. It also meets the bandwidth demands of large-scale ASCI applications. These include remote medical diagnosis, distance editing of major motion pictures in real time, video conferencing at full motion video speeds with audio visual and virtual reality tools, remote testing, and diagnosis of future transportation systems. The TSR can support more than 8,000 OC-3c or 560 OC-192c connections, at cost savings of less than 50% over existing technologies.

Edited by Kristin Keiser