Astral Point Introduces Two New OC192 Solutions For Its ON Product Family; Allows Transport of Multiple Bandwidth Services On A Single Optical Fiber.

Business/Technology Editors

CHELMSFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 3, 2000

Astral Point Communications, Inc. announced today two new optical networking capabilities that bring unprecedented capacity and additional optical services to the fast-growing metropolitan area network market.

The new products enable several advances in the use of high-speed OC192 optical signals in metropolitan networks. These include the sharing of optical fiber by multiple OC 192 and/or OC48 channels, the transport of multiple OC48 links on a single OC192 channel, and the ability to scale Astral Point ON 5000 Optical Service Node networks by adding OC 192 network links.

The solutions enable network service providers to deliver high-speed services without having to deploy costly multiple OC192 SONET rings when more bandwidth is required for scaling Internet access networks and backbones to send OC48 and OC192 traffic over SONET links.

One of the new Optical Service Modules maps a single OC192 SONET-compatible signal to an OC192 DWDM (Dense Wave Division Multiplexing) wavelength. The second Optical Service Module multiplexes four OC48 SONET compatible signals into a single OC192 DWDM wavelength. This second module can be optionally integrated as an ON 5000 Network Line Card to scale ON 5000 networks to OC192 network links.

"These new modules allow customers to add bandwidth scalability as an incremental investment, rather than adding SONET rings, and further strengthens our strategy to deliver providers a highly scalable platform that is flexible enough to meet their rapidly evolving needs," stated Raj Shanmugaraj, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Astral Point.

"The ability to support OC192 requirements at a metropolitan level demonstrates Astral Point's commitment to deliver a product that is scalable and meets the demand for superior bandwidth management," said Michael Rouleau, senior vice president of marketing at Time Warner Telecom Inc. "Our customers are constantly looking for increasing amounts of bandwidth with reduced provisioning timelines for a variety of applications. This type of solution would give us a critical competitive edge in serving our customers."

Because both OC192 Optical Service Modules use standard optics, they are compatible with other vendors DWDM systems supporting 100Ghz spacing on the ITU-T Grid. The use of standard wavelength channels allows the OC192 service to be passed to the carrier's long-haul DWDM system. The OC48 multiplexing interface is compatible with new-generation optical switching platforms for the purpose of bandwidth grooming.

The OC192 Optical Service Modules are the newest members of an expanding line of optical wavelength services planned by Astral Point to meet the needs of network service providers for reliable and configurable bandwidth services. Astral Point's Optical Service Module solutions take in a variety of services and allow them to be transported via the ITU 15XX C-Band wavelengths used in DWDM optical networking. Astral Point currently offers solutions for OC3, OC48 and Gigabit Ethernet private line services.

Astral Point will continue to develop interfaces for the ON product family to support specific requirements of customers for additional wavelength services, higher bandwidth, extended protection, further interoperability and new network topologies.

The OC192 interfaces will be available for trials in Q4 and generally available in the first quarter of 2001. Pricing will be established at the time of release, the company said.

An Integrated Solution Set

The strength of Astral Point's interfaces lies in the technical flexibility of the ON 5000 Optical Services Node, which houses it. The ON 5000 node supports eight networking functions through its switching fabric, including lambda, SONET, frame relay, ATM, DCS, IP, leased line TDM and Gigabit Ethernet traffic. It also converts signals into DWDM optical wavelengths through its switching fabric and through a maximum of 24 interfaces per node. Each interface has its own access line card through which testing, network management functions and APS 1+1 switching are controlled; each interface can have an optional coupler that provides two distinct channels through the network.

Astral Point's ON 5000 Optical Services Node can dramatically improve the performance of very high-speed optical networks used to carry voice, data, video and other traffic. The product's performance derives from advanced and patent-pending capabilities that combine, in a single platform, DWDM, ATM, IP and SONET interworking, centralized network management, rapid provisioning and reduced complexity. Astral Point recently initiated the process of OSMINE compliance for its entire product line to assure interoperability with the operation support systems (OSS) of major carriers, including the regional Bell operating companies.

About Astral Point

Privately held Astral Point Communications, Inc., of Chelmsford, MA, is pioneering the development of optical networking equipment to manage bandwidth for new types of services in metropolitan, regional and other optical access markets. Its patent-pending Self-Healing Mesh algorithm on the ON 5000 node enables SONET-quality protection and restoration capabilities in a flexible mesh network topology that maximizes efficient use of optical power, simplifies service upgrades and optimizes use of the optical infrastructure. Its ONset element management system (EMS) enables service providers to add hundreds of circuits in minutes from a single console; ONset also provides centralized management -- from a single console -- of circuit aggregation, grooming, LAN interconnection, banding and transport functions. Additional information about these capabilities can be found on the Astral Point web site at www.astralpoint.com