Cisco jumps into packet optical transport system market with Carrier Packet Transport System

NOVEMBER 15, 2010 By Stephen Hardy -- Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) has announced its entry into the increasingly crowded packet optical transport system market with the unveiling of the Cisco Carrier Packet Transport (CPT) System. Cisco sources tout the three-platform family as the first standards-based packet optical transport system on the market. It also has lined up customer trials with several large carriers.

The Cisco Carrier Packet Transport System family includes the 6 RU CPT 600, the 2 RU CPT 200, and the CPT 50. This last pizza-box platform operates as a satellite to the CPT 600 or CPT 200, offering port extension up to 80 km away from its master platform. Ports on the CPT 50 are operated as if they were part of the master platform, says Cisco’s Stephen Liu.

The CPT 600 offers 480 Gbps of capacity and supports up to 352 Gigabit Ethernet ports. The CPT 200 offers 160 Gbps of capacity with support for 176 Gigabit Ethernet ports. Both are aimed at the metro/access/aggregation segments of carrier networks.

Liu described the CPT family as modular and the only packet optical transport system in the market that offers standardized MPLS-TP capability in addition to such common packet optical transport system features as DWDM/ROADM, OTN, and Ethernet switching. The ROADM functionality will support two to eight degrees of operation.

The system will leverage a new management system called Cisco Premier Integrated Network Management Experience (PRIME). Cisco PRIME enables tightly integrated management of the packet and optical functions, including point and click provisioning via GMPLS of wavelengths and LSPs.

Cisco expects to make the CPT systems generally available in the first quarter of 2011. Meanwhile, it has lined up field trials with Verizon, BT, and XO Communications.

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