Carrier Ethernet optimizes optical transport networks

At the ECOC in Berlin next week, Nokia Siemens Networks will present Carrier Ethernet transport with the new connection-oriented standard “Provider Bridging Backbone – Traffic Engineering” (PBB-TE) in a joint field trial with Deutsche Telekom. This field trial shows that Carrier Ethernet transport in conjunction with an optical WDM network is a cost-effective alternative to IP router-based implementations.

With PBB-TE, Ethernet can now be used as the transport network technology in metro, regional and long-haul networks. Ethernet services are transported directly on a layer 2 transport network instead of via IP edge routers. Based on Carrier Ethernet switches in conjunction with flexible optical WDM networks, this optimization offers not only greater scalability, but also considerable cost advantages when it comes to capital spending and power consumption.

“We presented our first demonstrator with PBB-TE a few months ago,” said Achim Autenrieth, EIBONE project manager at Nokia Siemens Networks. “Now we can showcase the first field trial in Deutsche Telekom’s network. That shows how important the topic is for us and that Nokia Siemens Networks is playing a pioneering role in Carrier Ethernet transport.”