Ixia to Showcase PBT, T-MPLS Carrier Ethernet Test Solutions at CEWC in Geneva
Ixia (NASDAQ:XXIA), a leading, global provider of IP performance test systems, announced that it is participating in the European Advanced Networking Test Center’s (EANTC AG) live, multivendor interoperability showcase at the Carrier Ethernet World Congress 2007 (CEWC) in Geneva on September 24-28. CEWC is the official conference of the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF). Ixia will also lead a guided tour of its testing area at CEWC.
In August, Ixia participated in a “hot-stage” test event at the EANTC AG lab in Berlin where Ixia demonstrated its performance testing solutions with several different network equipment providers. Ixia demonstrated its solutions for two Carrier Ethernet transport technologies — PBT (provider backbone transport) and T-MPLS (transport MPLS). Ixia also successfully tested both early and recent versions of many vendors’ CFM (connectivity fault management) solutions.
“Ixia’s involvement in the demonstration has been imperative to its success,” said Carsten Rossenhövel, managing director, EANTC AG. “Ixia supported the event with its comprehensive suite of testing applications for Carrier Ethernet, be it for MEF specifications, MPLS, PBT/PBB or OAM/CFM.”
Ixia performed service-level, functional and resilience testing with its Carrier Ethernet test solution, IxNetwork 5.30, running on a single Optixia XM12 platform. With this recent IxNetwork product release, Ixia introduced PBB/PBB-TE, Ethernet OAM/CFM and BFD (bidirectional forwarding detection) testing support. Ixia offers the broadest range of Carrier Ethernet testing running on a single test platform and it is the first company to verify both PBB/PBB-TE and MPLS-based Carrier Ethernet.
The promise of Carrier Ethernet is to provide high-speed, low-cost, easily managed core networks to deliver Layer 2 Ethernet services. Current Metro Ethernet networks allow customer-separated services, but with a catch — only 4,095 distinct customers may be supported. PBB extends this to allow support to be provided to virtually unlimited numbers of individual customers on a network. PBT, championed by Nortel and also known as PBB-TE (IEEE 802.1Qay), answers the need for triple-play traffic separation and protocol-agnostic tunneling.
“Our solutions’ performance, repeated with several different vendors’ equipment during the Carrier Ethernet World Congress, demonstrates that Ixia is at the forefront of Carrier Ethernet technologies,” said Victor Alston, senior vice president of Product Development. “As a key test solution supplier in Nortel’s Carrier Ethernet Ecosystem initiative, we’re committed to extending the capabilities of Carrier Ethernet.”
Nortel agreed.
“Ixia’s participation in the EANTC sponsored interoperability demonstration was an important factor in the ultimate success of this important industry effort,” said Mike Adams, vice president of Strategy and Architecture for Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Networks. “We are pleased to be working with Ixia as a member of the Carrier Ethernet Ecosystem in an ongoing initiative for furthering the adoption of Carrier Ethernet.”
Also at this year’s Carrier Ethernet World Congress, Ixia will participate in three sessions of the Sept. 24 MEF Workshop.
Carrier Ethernet in the Core, Metro and Access 10:20 a.m. — 11:20 a.m.
Technology approaches available to operators
Emergence of long-haul service offerings
How access technologies are enabling global coverage
Carrier Ethernet Certification Programs 12 p.m. — 1 p.m.
MEF 9, 14 Certification Program Overview for vendors and operators
Certification advantages to enterprises
Interoperability and Interconnect 2:45 p.m. — 3:45 p.m.
Requirements for interworking from service providers
Status of interoperability projects in the MEF
Carrier Ethernet interop testing at CEWC
About Ixia
Ixia is a leading provider of performance test systems for IP-based infrastructure and services. Ixia’s test systems are used by network and telephony equipment manufacturers, semiconductor manufacturers, service providers, governments, and enterprises to validate the capability and reliability of complex IP networks, devices and applications. Ixia’s triple-play test systems address the growing need to test voice, video and data services and network capability under real-world conditions.
For more information, contact Ixia at 26601 W. Agoura Road, Calabasas, CA 91302; 818-871-1800, Fax: 818-871-1805; Email: info@ixiacom.com or visit our Web Site at http://www.ixiacom.com.
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This material is for informational purposes only and subject to change without notice. It describes Ixia’s present plans to develop and make available to its customers certain products, features and functionality. Ixia is only obligated to provide those deliverables specifically included in a written agreement between Ixia and the customer.