Date: 22nd May 2008
Title: Transmode launches Customer Premises Ethernet Demarcation Unit  

Transmode, a leading provider of Optical Networking Solutions, has again extended its industry-leading Intelligent WDM (iWDMTM) solutions with the launch of the Customer Premises Ethernet Demarcation Unit (CPE-EDU) intended for business Ethernet and mobile backhaul services applications.

The CPE-EDU offers service providers, mobile operators and cable MSOs demarcation solutions for demanding business services and wireless backhaul applications. Offering all common Ethernet interfaces, the CPE-EDU can act as a wire-speed media converter while supporting full functionality including: in-service active and passive performance testing, Ethernet service creation and SLA validation.

The CPE-EDU is a compact, stand-alone unit that can be placed either on the desk-top, wall-mounted or mounted in a standard rack. This development closely follows the launch in December 2007 of Transmode’s larger EDU, also known as the “Edge-EDU”. The Edge-EDU is a blade that is inserted in any of Transmode’s TM-Series chassis where it can be collocated with other optical transport units.

The CPE-EDU features two ports, one facing the customer and one facing the network. All through-put and Service Level Agreement parameters can be managed via in-band management, enabling complete remote management of the CPE-EDU.

In contrast, the Edge-EDU has 6 ports, four facing the customer and two facing the network, allowing additional aggregation of input signals into a single network interface and optional network interface protection. The customer can also connect any Ethernet signal type to these Edge-EDU client ports
and remotely manage the unit if required.

“These two EDUs are the first of a series of launches of Layer 2 compatible products in Transmode’s TM-Series platform,” said Magnus Öberg, Chief Technical Officer. “The great benefit is the tight integration of these products in the optical transport platform. Instead of having separate boxes from
different vendors, our customers can now provide same or better services with the same management solution. The operator has the option to choose between a clean Layer 1 solution or a combined Layer 1+Layer 2 simply by inserting the relevant blades in the existing card cages.”

Both EDUs support business Ethernet applications where the customer traffic is handled as “Carrier Class Ethernet services” as defined by the Metro Ethernet Forum, where different service levels can be applied per port or per VLAN within a port. Different services within the same Ethernet connection can thus be given different levels of priority and guaranteed bandwidth. Advanced performance monitoring is also provided where parameters such as latency, jitter and lost packets can be used to establish and validate different types of Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

About Transmode
Transmode is a leading provider of optical networking solutions for transport of data, voice and video traffic, based on WDM-technology (Wavelength Division Multiplexing).

Our customer base consists of more than 200 network operators, service providers, large enterprises and public institutions across Europe, the Americas and Asia.

Transmode’s comprehensive product portfolio and strong global organization enable our customers to cost efficiently grow the capacity and to improve service level of their regional, metro and metro access networks, without compromising on functionality. For additional information about Transmode, please visit http://www.transmode.com