Cisco Adds New Capabilities to ONS 15800 Series to Optimize Core Transport Capacity and Performance for Long-Haul DWDM.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 9, 2001

Out-of-Band Forward Error Correction and L-Band Transmission

Boost Capacity and Enhance Network Scalability with

64 OC-192 Channels per Fiber

Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today introduced new Out-of-Band Forward Error Correction (FEC) and L-Band transmission capabilities for its ONS 15800 Series Long-Haul DWDM System, increasing capacity to 64 OC-192 (10 Gbps) channels per fiber. Bringing increased transport capacity via more channels per fiber cable and greater span lengths between regenerator locations, Cisco's Out-of-Band FEC and L-Band capabilities enable greater service density and profitability per fiber for leading service providers.

Cisco Out-of-Band FEC across both the C and L Bands enhances performance of long-haul optical core networks by increasing the number of available channels, increasing the number of spans, or a hybrid of both. The ONS 15800 Series with Out-of-Band FEC and L-Band transmission enables service providers to increase network capacity in the core while at the same time reduce long-haul transport cost per bit to maximize capacity and profitability throughout the network.

"Out-of-Band Forward Error Correction and the introduction of our L-Band amplifier provide the type of capacity and performance our long-haul DWDM customers are looking for," said Jeff Santos, senior director of Marketing, Photonics Business Unit at Cisco Systems. "By reducing the bit error rate of transmission in both the C- and L-Band windows, service providers reduce the need for expensive optical amplifiers and regenerators, thus reducing capital and operational costs and ultimately transmission cost per bit."

Forward error correction provides a method to overcome some of the limitations inherent in dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) over long-haul networks. Constraints founded in physics principles and the fiber itself can cause sub-optimal long-haul DWDM performance and limit capacity. Dispersion, attenuation, and modulation are just some of the occurrences that can impact both the integrity and span of a light signal. Cisco's Out-of-Band FEC counters these occurrences by compensating for signal noise caused by dispersion, attenuation, and modulation and improving the overall performance of the signal.

Out-of-Band FEC utilizes a sophisticated coding scheme which adds redundancy to transmitted data streams, enabling the network to identify and correct corrupted bits and reduce the overall bit-error rate (BER). Cisco's FEC solution utilizes the ITU-T G.975 industry standard based on Reed-Solomon error correction algorithms to achieve an average gain of 7-db over non-FEC solutions. In addition to economic benefits, Out-of-Band FEC also improves transmission quality and provides network monitoring and supervision capabilities to detect link section degradation well in advance of service degradation, therefore enabling service providers to guarantee varying levels of quality of service.

The Cisco ONS 15800 Series Long-Haul DWDM System is a field proven, carrier-class optical transport platform, with a worldwide customer base and over 3,000 10 Gbps channels shipped to date. An integral part of Cisco's IP+Optical portfolio, the ONS 15800 Series allows service providers to maximize the use of installed fiber over long-haul networks to scale with the exponential growth of Internet traffic. Cisco offers an extensive IP+Optical solution for scalable 10 Gbps networks with the ONS 15800 Series, the market leading ONS 15454 Metro Optical Transport Platform, and Cisco 12400 Series Internet Routers.

About Cisco IP+Optical Solutions

Cisco is the first company to deliver scalable IP+Optical networking solutions for today's services-driven marketplace. Cisco's IP+Optical strategy builds on Cisco's leadership in IP routing, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), optical networking technology and content/services intelligence. Cisco is uniquely positioned to enable service providers to reduce operational costs and increase service velocity, bringing immediate benefits today while empowering them to deploy a new generation of highly competitive New World services.

About Cisco

Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Cisco news and information are available at www.cisco.com.

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