The DTN in Detail
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There's a lot to say about the DTN, and it breaks down into six key topics:
- High-density transport with digital switching
- Simple, fast and flexible architecture
- Fully reconfigurable sub-wavelength add-drop
- Carrier-class reliability and availability
- Network simplification using Embedded Software Intelligence
- Carrier-class network management
High-Density Transport with Digital Switching
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The Infinera DTN Digital ROADM enables valuable transport networking features, including integrated ODU1 (2.5Gb/s) granularity digital switching and grooming for efficient and flexible bandwidth utilization, full digital performance monitoring, integrated digital service protection, and end-to-end service provisioning. It supports 800Gb/s of DWDM capacity (80 channels, 10Gb/s each) in a bay, or 400Gb/s (40 channels, 10Gb/s each) in a 20RU rack. It can also support multi-chassis configurations across several racks to support multi-way junctions and to create a multi-fiber direction, multi-terabit transport system that's managed as a single network element.
Simple, Fast, and Flexible Architecture
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The DTN employs pluggable 100Gb/s line cards, called Digital Line Modules (DLMs), facilitating rapid automated turn-up of DWDM capacity, 100Gb/s at a time. The DLM provides full retiming, reshaping, regeneration, and recoding services for each optical wavelength. It also provides integrated sub-wavelength electronic grooming and switching capabilities for unconstrained and reconfigurable add, drop, and express of capacity through the node. The DLM also isolates all analog impairments from adjacent spans to eliminate wavelength blocking and simplify network planning. Together, these capabilities help provide more flexibility and manageability than other traditional DWDM or analog ROADM systems.
The DLM includes ODU1 (2.5Gb/s) sub-wavelength digital switching.
The DWDM wavelengths from the DLM are multiplexed onto the line-side fiber via the Band Multiplexing Module (BMM). The BMM optically multiplexes capacity from DLMs, and also combines booster and pre-amp optical amplifiers and an Optical Supervisory Channel (OSC). The BMM comes in 400Gb/s and 800Gb/s configurations. This allows all optical multiplexing to be performed on a single card, offering significant density advantages versus conventional systems.
Fully Reconfigurable Add/Drop
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The Infinera DTN solution supports in-service pluggable client-side circuit packs called Tributary Adapter Modules (TAMs) that are separate from the line-side DWDM optics, enabling mix-and-match and fully flexible add/drop capabilities of SONET/SDH, OTN, Ethernet and SAN client interfaces at any digital site. The native client interfaces are encapsulated in an enhanced OTU2 G.709 digital wrapper before being groomed or switched by the system.
The DLM is designed to support multi-service and multi-rate TAMs able to support a wide range of services, including:
- SONET/SDH services including 40Gb/s (OC-768, STM-256), 10Gb/s (OC-192, STM-64), 2.5Gb/s (OC-48, STM-16), GbE, 622Mb/s (OC-12, STM-4) and 155Mb/s (OC-3, STM-1);
- 1 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and 10GbE (LAN and WAN PHY)
- Optical Transport Network (OTN) interfaces at 2.7Gb/s (OTU1) and 10.709Gb/s (OTU2)
- Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (SAN) interfaces
Flexible tributary optical configurations are available on the TAMs through a wide selection of field-replaceable SFP/XFP interfaces, called Tributary Optical Modules (TOMs). This allows digital add/drop of multiple services, so the network can evolve as requirements change.
A key advantage of this solution relative to all-optical ROADM-based DWDM systems is its ability to provide bit-transparent services with regular and rich digital performance monitoring. The DTN's PIC technology allows cost-effective O-E-O conversion of the optical signals as they transit the network, allowing Bit Error Rate (BER) monitoring from Forward Error Correction (FEC) and performance monitoring of SONET/SDH and G.709 overhead at every digital node. Additionally, it combines 100Gb/s PICs with ODU1 (2.5Gb/s) bandwidth management, so that services can be sub-wavelength, wavelength, even super-wavelength in size. Unlike all-optical ROADM or WSS systems, the DTN provides sub-wavelength add/drop, grooming, and switching, eliminating the need for separate muxponders, or Multiservice Provisioning Platforms (MSPPs) to manage 1Gb/s and 2.5Gb/s circuits, and avoids the extra and unnecessary cost of back-to-back transponders for wavelength translation due to wavelength blocking as can happen in all-optical ROADM/WSS networks.
Carrier-class Reliability and Availability
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Improving network reliability is a key motivation behind the development of the Infinera DTN. Its photonic integrated circuits eliminate dozens of fiber couplings, a key source of failure for discrete optical components. The system architecture of the Infinera DTN also contributes to its carrier-class availability through a fully redundant control and management solution and full separation of the control plane from the data plane. It supports other system redundancy capabilities, including redundant power entry modules and cooling fans.
The Infinera DTN also supports a highly available management plane with support for redundant OSS-NE and EMS-NE communications to ensure maximum access. A high-capacity in-band Optical Supervisory Channel (OSC) facilitates in-band management and control communications from a Gateway Network Element (GNE) to Subtending Network Elements (SNEs). The DTN solution supports a multi-chassis architecture that enables scalable nodal growth while maintaining a simplified and consolidated network management view of the system as a whole.
The DTN's integrated switching enables service protection and restoration to maintain service availability in the face of fiber cuts or other network outages. Infinera offers <50 millisecond Digital SNCP protection as well as dynamically signaled restoration for SONET/SDH, OTN, Ethernet and SAN services. This allows customers to simplify their network architecture and reduce cost by removing a layer of technology and complexity, the result is a simpler flatter and cost (both CapEx and OpEx) reduced network architecture.
Network Simplification using Embedded Software Intelligence
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Service providers seeking to reduce cost and complexity of operations will appreciate the extensive automation capabilities incorporated into the IQ® Network Operating System (IQ NOS), including a generalized multi-protocol label switching (GMPLS) control plane that dynamically automates network topology discovery and enables end-to-end routing and provisioning and Inventory Management.
IQ NOS also enables true Ethernet-like plug-and-play capabilities for rapid system and network turn-up and capacity expansions. IQ NOS improves network manageability with embedded digital maintenance, digital performance monitoring, and troubleshooting capabilities for rapid fault isolation.
Carrier-class Network Management Solutions
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An Infinera Digital Optical Network® system is managed with the Infinera Management Suite, a collection of robust carrier-class applications and toolsets, including:
- Infinera Graphical Node Manager (GNM), a full-featured graphical element manager for craft access to any Infinera network element, local or remote.
- Infinera Digital Network Administrator (DNA), a comprehensive integrated element and network management system that provides users with a graphical interface with full fault, configuration, performance, provisioning, and security management capabilities of the Infinera Digital Optical Network® solution
- Infinera CORBA Integration Software Developers Kit (CIS) and Infinera SNMP Fault Integration Server (FIS) are standards-compliant interfaces and SDKs for facilitating the integration of customer operations support systems (OSS) with the Infinera Digital Optical Network, automating back-office operations.
- Infinera Network Planning System (NPS), an offline application for network design and configuration, link engineering, capacity planning, what-if failure analysis, and optimization.
* Product identification and description provided for information purposes only and reflects Infinera's current plans for the development of various products and features as of the date of publication. Product development remains subject to change at Infinera's sole discretion without further notice.
© 2008 Infinera Corporation.