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Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) has expanded its MX 3D Universal Edge Router product line with new platforms and applications.

On the hardware side, Juniper has unveiled two new MX 3D Universal Edge Routers. The larger of the two, the MX 2020 3D Universal Edge router, offers 80 Tbps of capacity; the other platform, the MX 2010, offers 40 Tbps. Both represent significant capacity jumps from Juniper’s previous top end, the 8.8 Tbps of the MX 960 – and, in the case of the MX 2020, a 67% capacity increase versus a single Cisco ASR 9922 router, the company points out. Juniper says the new routers have both the scale and applications horsepower to meet the requirements of the broadband edge, business edge, and mobile edge in the same platform. Meanwhile, the ability to support the same line cards as the other MX routers enables service providers to maximize both current and future investments, the company asserts.

The MX 2020 will be available in the fourth quarter of this year, while the MX 2010 will be available in the first quarter of 2013.

Meanwhile, the company has announced new applications for these and other MX routers. The JunosV App Engine, scheduled for availability in the fourth quarter of this year, is a hypervisor to for the company’s edge routers. It enables service providers to drag and drop existing applications as well as simultaneously operate applications from any vendor.

“In order for us to efficiently manage demand for greater bandwidth, latency-sensitive services and additional users, we needed more flexible and programmable architecture. Juniper’s innovative approach with the JunosV App Engine is a way for us to seamlessly create and simultaneously operate multiple applications on a single platform, reducing application migration time for future and new-generation Internet,” said Michihiro Aoki, research professor, National Institute of Informatics (NII), via a Juniper press release.

Meanwhile, the MX Virtual Chassis, which is currently shipping, virtualizes broadband or business edge services over multiple MX 3D routers; this enables service providers to operate the systems as a single chassis. The virtual chassis functionality speeds the addition of new subscribers while offering faster service provision, higher resiliency, and increased performance and scale, Juniper says.

The new Path Computational Element (PCE), also targeted for availability in the fourth quarter of this year, enables IT managers using the MX to find the most efficient paths to optimize on-demand bandwidth requirements. And the Juniper Rapid Deployment, a suite of services and software, supports simplified integration and testing with operating and business support systems (OSS/BSS).

“Our New Network vision is to provide innovations that help transform service providers into super providers,” said Rami Rahim senior vice president, Edge & Aggregation Business Unit, Juniper Networks, via the press release. “Thousands of MX customers have validated the need for massive scaling and reduced complexity driven by emerging video, applications, and cloud-based services. We see our new edge services engine as the first solution that truly empowers service providers to take control of their business by removing barriers currently hindering innovation and revenue expansion.”

“Our ability to build highly scalable networks to support streaming video adoption and complex business applications requires network innovators to deliver high-performance routers and improved operational efficiency. As network bandwidth and essential business application requirements continue to advance, Juniper's routing and software solutions empower us with the massive capacity headroom and carrier-grade features to methodically evolve our network with the new world of business," Kempei Fukuda, director, Network Services Division for NTT Communications, was quoted as saying in the same release.

“We predict that public IT cloud services spending will reach over $40 billion this year and almost $100 billion in 2016. This opportunity, coupled with streaming video and audio driving nearly half of the broadband traffic today and growing, will enable service providers to increase revenue if they capitalize now on the cloud, content, and mobility drivers,” according to Nav Chander, research manager, Telecom Business Services and Carrier Network infrastructure at IDC. “This new generation of edge routers optimized to enable virtualized data, voicec and video services from a single, scalable platform will enable providers to cost-effectively monetize their networks with new consumer and business services.”

Cisco has unveiled a pair of new technologies aimed at converging the IP and optical layers and enabling flexible provision of links carrying data rates of 100 Gbps and above. The new “elastic core architecture” enables multilayer service provisioning, while nLight technology integrates 100-Gbps optical interfaces into the Carrier Routing System (CRS). The advances are part of Cisco’s Open Network Environment (ONE) initiative.

Carriers have expressed an interest in converging the IP and optical layers, particularly in the long haul, to enable efficient mesh networking. Several systems providers have offered various takes on how this might be accomplished. Companies with a router heritage such as Cisco and Juniper suggesting the routers should control setup and other aspects of configuring optical links, while suppliers that are more optically focused have suggested that optical transport equipment should retain this responsibility.

Today’s release brings Cisco’s approach from theory to commercialization. With the help of the nLight capabilities, the elastic core approach within an IP over DWDM (IPoDWDM) architecture will provide a variety of benefits, the company asserts:

    Elastic scale: The Cisco CRS platform now has a more streamlined multi-chassis operational capabilities. With 400 Gbps per-slot, the architecture enables economical capacity scaling in-service.
    Elastic transport: The multi-layer management capabilities can enable carriers to reduce provisioning times “from months to minutes,” Cisco asserts, saying the result is savings as high as 36% on the total cost of ownership (TCO).
    Elastic services: Cisco CRS simultaneously supports transit label-switching (LSR) and IP services in a single system, which the company says means as much as 42% savings inTCO versus conventional technologies.

Meanwhile, nLight adds coherent 100-Gbps transport capabilities over 3,000 km without regeneration. The new capabilities likely are based on technology Cisco acquired when it bought CoreOptics.

Cisco says that CESNET, the national research and education network of the Czech Republic, is deploying the new nLight capabilities.

“CESNET is very happy to be the first customer to deploy Cisco’s nLight silicon, enabling 100 Gbps IPoDWDM in a production network,“ said Jan Gruntorád, managing director and member of the board of directors, CESNET, via a Cisco press release. "IPoDWDM is a very innovative technology that will serve as the foundation for our high-speed data services, while helping us reduce network costs and improve network operations. The Cisco CRS provides an intelligent core solution with the ability to scale up to 400 Gbps per slot, which will meet our service demands well into the future. The CRS enables reliable and continuous operation, as well as a very smooth migration path from the CRS-1 to the CRS-3 platform.“

ADVA Optical Networking says that the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC), which owns and manages the Polish research and education network PIONIER, have asked the company to install its ADVA FSP 3000 to bring ROADM technology to the network.

PIONIER, which comprises more than 6,500 km of dark fiber, is part of the nationwide Polish Optical Internet initiative. It connects supercomputing centers in Poznan, Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw, and Krakow, as well as 21 academic metropolitan-area networks. Overall, the network provides high-speed connectivity to nearly 1,000 organizations throughout Poland.

ADVA Optical Networking has supplied optical transport technology for the network for some time (see, for example, “ADVA extends Poland's PIONIER optical fiber network”). Most recently, PSNC was looking to add the ability to quickly and easily set up new services on the fiber-optic network, which is designed to support data rates of 100 Gbps and beyond. The new directionless and colorless ROADM technology, along with the company’s multi-layer GMPLS-based RAYcontrol control plane, will do the trick, ADVA Optical Networking states.

“We have worked with ADVA Optical Networking for many years now so they understand the unique needs of a long-haul research and education network,” said Maciej Stroinski, technical director of PSNC. “We needed a cost-effective way to deliver more bandwidth to the researchers and scientists. Having a small team and limited resources, it was imperative that we have a high level of automation without operational complexity. Using the FSP Service Manager, we are now able to set-up high-speed services on demand, offering network users throughout Poland access to the content and applications they need, at any time and from anywhere on all-optical links of distances up to 3,000 km.”

“PSNC has designed a unique network that aids scientists, students, and researchers, providing them a communication infrastructure they can depend on,” said Stephan Rettenberger, vice president, marketing, ADVA Optical Networking. “This dynamic network propels their scientific work and international collaboration, ensuring they will never be held back by technology. Distance learning applications, virtual laboratories, online study groups using multimedia streams, and remote virtualization tools are now accessible throughout Poland. PSNC sets a great example in building forward-looking solutions that address tomorrow’s challenges. Through colorless and directionless ROADMs and a GMPLS-enabled control plane, PSNC has the flexibility to instantly set up optical links between any nodes. This automated technology combines massive scalability with great ease-of-use, ensuring the network has what it needs to continue being one of Europe’s largest and most innovative research networks.”

Installation and maintenance work is being carried out by the Polish systems integrator, ALMA.

German transport equipment developer KEYMILE says it plans to unveil a new line of GPON equipment at this year’s Broadband World Forum in Amsterdam, October 16-18.The new line of MileGate platforms include the MileGate 2880 and the MileGate 2820. The company also will introduce the MileGate 2200, a 2-HU subrack system for areas with few subscribers.

The KEYMILE MileGate multi-service access platform (MSAP) already supports a variety of FTTx broadband options, including copper-based approaches from ADSL2+ to VDSL2 with vectoring, as well as active optical Gigabit Ethernet. The new products add GPON capabilities to the line.

For example, the MileGate 2880 supports 1:64 split ratios per port in an 8-HU subrack, bringing total capacity to 4096 subscribers. For smaller installations, KEYMILE will offer the MileGate 2820, which comes in a 4-HU subrack.

For particularly low-density applications, the MileGate 2200 can accommodate both DSL and active Ethernet optical line cards. KEYMILE will position the system as a flexible mini-DSLAM with point-to-point optical Ethernet capabilities.