OCTOBER 23, 2009 -- MRV Communications has announced its OptiSwitch 904-MBH (OS904-MBH), a compact Carrier Ethernet demarcation device with support for IEEE 1588v2 and synchronous Ethernet, which it says provides the first wireless demarcation device with the two most popular timing mechanisms for 3G and 4G networks.
The OS904-MBH is the latest addition to the company's OptiSwitch 900 service demarcation series. The platform functions as an Ethernet equipment clock (EEC) and combines both physical layer synchronization over Ethernet (SyncE) and precision time protocol (PTP – IEEE1588v2), allowing migration to packet-switched wireless backhaul services without the loss of traditional time-division multiplexing (TDM)-quality synchronization to cellular base stations. By integrating both technologies, says MRV, the OS904-MBH enables synchronization-gateway functionality between synchronous and asynchronous physical layer networks for both 3G and 4G wireless services.
"Today's carriers are facing growing cost and bandwidth pressures to move from E1/T1 TDM transport to packet-based transport, but the migration to next-generation networks (NGN) involves significant technical challenges," claims Noam Lotan, chief executive officer of MRV Communications. "With the flexibility of the OS904-MBH, operators can effectively migrate to packet-based backhaul networks to support their existing 3G networks and keep them in place when they move to 4G technologies."
The OS904-MBH also provides robust traffic management for enhanced quality of service (QoS) that ensures timing packets have priority over other packets sent through the network in order to avoid dropped calls and other connectivity issues. All timing synchronization and connectivity services can be monitored remotely via comprehensive end-to-end Ethernet operations, administration, and maintenance (OAM) tools according to IEEE802.1ag CFM, ITU-T Y.1731 PM with nanosecond precision, and RF2544 wire speed throughput analysis.
The platform is fully compliant with mobile backhaul specifications including the Metro Ethernet Forum's MEF-22 implementation agreement and MPLS forum framework 20.0.0.
OS904-MBH demonstrated timing synchronization interoperability during Carrier Ethernet World Congress (CEWC) in Berlin, Germany -- the MEF's main annual event in September -- and has been on display during Supercomm (Chicago, IL, Oct. 21-23) at the MRV booth #1925. It will be available in Q4.