Switching Platform For Deep Fiber Architectures Unveiled

Westford, MA - Narad Networks, Inc., a provider of high performance switched broadband access solutions, announced its next generation switch, the FTTxSWITCH. The new switch is smaller, lighter, less expensive and requires less power than Narad's current switch. Cable operators can flexibly provision up to 10 ports in the FTTxSWITCH for fiber transmission, RJ45 Ethernet for wired or wireless connections, and coaxial cable using Narad's patented Ethernet-over-Coax technology.

"With Narad's new switch, the cable industry can leverage its existing coax network and use fiber or wireless as makes sense for optimum competitive and economic effect," said Michael Collette, Narad Networks' newly appointed CEO. "As competition, VoIP, HDTV/VOD, IP media and heavy commercial users drive rapid growth in network requirements Narad's switching platform offers cable operators huge gains in spectral efficiency, flexibility in construction, scalability for giga-bandwith to the edge, time to market, and reach. And we do all of this at much lower price points than today's alternatives."

SPECTRAL EFFICIENCY
Switching on the network offers important sources of efficiency. The FTTxSWITCH conserves spectrum on the fiber running from the metro loop to the node -- thus greatly extending the usable life of these fiber resources and delaying or avoiding costly plant upgrades. For example, with the FTTxSWITCH, 100 end users with 10Mbps x 10Mbps access can be serviced using just 1/100th of the metro fiber capacity by comparison to typical solutions used by MSOs today.

FLEXIBILITY
The FTTxSWITCH can be flexibly configured to operate at varying plant depths and can be used at the HFC node location, in the trunk, at the curb as a multi-tap, or in the customer premise, including both commercial and residential uses.

At the node, the fiber forward capability of the FTTxSWITCH allows operators to run fiber deeper into the node. This capability can be used as needed and provides increased bandwidth at deeper points in the network. For example, a phased deployment might start with 100Mbps Ethernet over Coax on the trunk to service an initial set of customers on Main Street. As market penetration increases, fiber can be extended forward along the trunk to one or more locations as needed to increase capacity.

Configured as a curb switch, the FTTxSWITCH can use coax or fiber links to the network and provide up to 10 fiber or coax taps to customers. For increased capacity, switches can be daisy chained. When fed by fiber, an FTTxSWITCH at the curb can distribute up to 1 Gbps of data to the neighborhood. A 10 Gbps option will also be available later next year. In addition, when fed by fiber the Narad solution does not touch the cable trunk.

SCALABILITY
The FTTsSWITCH also provides important scalability advantages. Data capacity out in the plant is delivered in up to 10 Gbps increments. In the headend, 10Gbps of switched access only requires a single 10 Gbps Interface Card in the headend Ethernet switch. Competing solutions today may require 100s of rack units of headend equipment to terminate all the end users of 10Gbps of capacity. Given the potential to serve over 6 million commercial users and 110 million residential users, scalability at the headend becomes an important planning consideration.

ECONOMY
The FTTxSWITCH is also much more capital efficient than existing solutions. For example, when deployed at the curb as part of a multi-tenant fiber installation, the FTTxSWITCH allows MSOs to save between 50-75% in capital expense on electronics by comparison to current fiber solutions. If a coaxial cable drop is available to the customer premise, significant additional construction savings are available.

SOURCE: Narad Networks