LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES UNVEILS TMX 880 MPLS CORE SWITCH.

Switch Breaks New Ground for ATM, Frame Relay and IP Services over a Single, Multiservice Backbone to Help Customers Grow Revenues and Minimize Operations Costs

Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) has announced the launch of TMX 880 MPLS Core Switch, a new ATM and MPLS internetworking platform that enables customers to deliver more reliable and profitable voice, video and data services over a unified multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network.

Being demonstrated at the CeBIT trade show opening tomorrow in Germany, the TMX 880's distinctive internetworking capabilities satisfy customer needs for a unified backbone that can expand and scale profitable asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and frame relay services today and prepare for the emerging demand for Internet protocol (IP) services.

"To compete in today's changing regulatory environment, service providers must build service-aware backbones to take ATM and frame relay market share now, and deliver next-generation IP services the minute those demands arise," said Ken Packert, president, Multiservice Switching. "The TMX 880 not only gives service providers this critical capability but also lets them lower capital and operating expenses."

Enabling service providers to integrate traditional and emerging services (i.e. voice, IP Virtual Private Networks, Frame Relay), the TMX 880's unique Quality of Service (QoS) architecture supports the scaling of ATM and frame relay services and new profitable IP services, and provides a seamless evolution path from today's ATM cores to a unified multiservice MPLS core.

The TMX 880 uses "fluid signaling" to integrate ATM and MPLS traffic, and streamline service provider infrastructures. Fluid signaling is intelligent internetworking between ATM and MPLS in three areas - transport, Quality of Service and operations - across a single unified "control plane" to provide the industry's only translation of the signaling information between frame relay, ATM and IP/MPLS services. The result is a packet-based architecture that is optimized to grow ATM and frame relay services while efficiently delivering new IP services that minimize operations expense. The TMX 880 can eliminate the need for complicated, expensive overlay networks, and it facilitates the evolution to MPLS core networks.

Like the other products in the Lucent core switching family, the TMX 880 is supported by the Navis iOperations management system. Navis automates network operations and improves reliability to help simply network provisioning and reduce operational costs. The TMX 880 also helps protect capital investments by integrating with existing Lucent multiservice switches and supporting future growth.

Part of the Lucent Service Intelligent Architecture to make the network service-aware to drive new value-added revenues while reducing complexity and cost, the TMX 880 offers 10-gigabit-per-second (Gb/s) and 2.5 Gb/s interfaces to consolidate traffic and connect to the optical core for high-speed, high-capacity data transport. The Service Intelligent Architecture leverages Lucent's portfolio to offer the network solutions service provider's need to deliver services to business customers and enable continued outsourcing of enterprise networks.

The TMX 880 is available now and is the newest switch in Lucent's industry-leading core switching portfolio that includes the GX 550, CBX 500 and B-STDX 9000 Multiservice Wide Area Networking Switches.

The TMX 880 provides common equipment redundancy and distributed processing with 99.999+% availability for its cards, chassis and power units. The switch also offers MPLS fast reroute in case of traffic interruptions.

In a related story scientists from Bell Labs, the research and development arm of Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU), have doubled the distance record for high-bandwidth, ultra long-distance transmission by sending 2.56 terabits (trillion bits) of information per second over a distance of 4000 kilometers (2500 miles), roughly the distance between Orlando, Fla., and San Diego.

The previous transmission record was 1.60 terabits of information per second over 2000 kilometers (1250 miles).

"This breakthrough will ultimately enable lower capital and operational costs for our customers," said Tim Sullivan, president of Lucent's optical networking group.

A technical paper detailing the achievement is being presented at the post-deadline session of the Optical Fiber Communications (OFC) conference in Anaheim, Calif.

The ultra long-haul all-optical transmission record was achieved using a 64-channel dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) system, where each channel carried information at 40 gigabits per second. (Sending a gigabit of information per second is equivalent to transmitting the information content of approximately 1,000 novels every second; sending 40 gigabits per second over 64 channels is equivalent to transmitting the information content of 2,560,000 novels.) The DWDM technique, invented at Bell Labs, makes it possible to send multiple streams of information down the same optical fiber.

The fiber optics spans used in the Bell Labs experiment were 100 kilometers (62.5 miles) in length, typical of terrestrial networks used by service providers today. The previous distance record for a 40 gigabits per second transmission experiment over 100-kilometer fiber spans was exactly half of the 4000 kilometers (2500 miles) distance record that the Bell Labs team achieved, and the team used 64 channels whereas the previous experiment had used 40 channels.

"With this new result we have once again demonstrated Bell Labs' pioneering leadership in optical transmission systems," said Rod Alferness, senior vice president of optical networking research at Bell Labs.

The transmission breakthrough was made possible using the differential phase shift keying (DPSK) method, a new coding scheme for high-capacity communications developed at Bell Labs. When coupled with other leading-edge Bell Labs technologies - such as extended L-band amplifiers, Raman amplifiers, forward error correction and optimal dispersion compensation - DPSK allowed the research team to achieve error-free transmission over 4,000 kilometers (2500 miles) for all 64 channels, each of which had a signal of 40 gigabits per second.

This long-distance transmission achievement comes on the heels of Lucent's introduction of its LambdaXtreme Transport optical networking system, which can transmit enormous amounts of information across continents at one of the lowest costs per bit per kilometer in its class. LambdaXtreme Transport is being field tested by Deutsche Telekom and is generally available to customers. Developed by Bell Labs, it is the first system to power a 40 gigabits per second signal up to 1,000 kilometers (625 miles).

"It shows that close collaboration between Bell Labs and the business unit delivers real value to service providers," Sullivan said.

With approximately 16,000 employees in 16 countries, Bell Labs is the leading source of new communications technologies. Bell Labs has generated more than 28,000 patents since 1925 and has played a pivotal role in inventing or perfecting key communications technologies, including transistors, digital networking and signal processing, lasers and fiber-optic communications systems, communications satellites, cellular telephony, electronic switching of calls, touch-tone dialing, and modems. Bell Labs scientists have received six Nobel Prizes in Physics, nine U.S. Medals of Science and six U.S. Medals of Technology.