SONET/SDH channelization chip set creates new sub-wavelength optical equipment that may replace racks of traditional equipment with a single shelf, and consolidate metro optical networks for multi-platform service delivery.

by Wayne Kawamoto [April 19, 2001]

PMC-Sierra recently introduced its OC-192/STM-64 line rate optical networking architecture that should enable ISPs and telecommunication carriers to deliver voice, video and data services across a single optical transport backbone.

Targeted towards broadband Internet infrastructure equipment for Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN), PMC-Sierra's CHESS-II (Channelizer Engine for SONET/SDH) chip set should enable optical transport functionality, sub-wavelength cross-connection and network service aggregation.

The CHESS-II chip set includes the PM5317 SPECTRA-9953 (STS-1 Channelized framer and pointer processor), PM5307 TBS-9953 (groomer and serializer), PM5374 TSE-160 (160 Gbit/s STS-1 cross-connect) and the PM5395 CRSU-4x2488 (4xOC-48 clock and data recovery).

The CHESS-II chip set's architecture may be able to consolidate traditional SONET/SDH equipment (SONET/SDH Add/Drop Multiplexers [ADMs], Terminal Multiplexers and Broadband Digital Cross-Connects), along with IP routers and multi-service switches, into a single shelf platform.

The company says that network access services are expanding rapidly and metropolitan transport networks have become bottlenecks. Today's SONET/SDH networks were only designed to carry voice traffic and can't handle the high levels of data and other services brought on by the Internet.

In response, carriers and ISPs have to upgrade existing metro infrastructure to maintain and grow their service provisioning businesses. And to help with this, PMC-Sierra's CHESS-II is designed to collapse multiple platforms for data, voice, and video services into a single network platform which can reduce interoperability and scalability challenges.

The CHESS-II chip set helps remove MAN bottlenecks by aggregating services such as Gigabit Ethernet, Internet Protocol, Fiber Channel and ATM into highly scalable SONET/SDH platforms exhibiting sub-wavelength cross-connect capabilities. Services in the MAN are initially aggregated into pipes at STS-1 (51.84 Mbit/s) level granularities. T

he CHESS-II chip set grooms these STS-1 pipes in such a way that multiple services can be transported over individual OC-192/STM-64 wavelengths or multiple OC-48/STM-16 wavelengths. This capability should enable carriers to manage and direct services through the MAN in a more efficient manner.

"Metropolitan Area Networks bridge the space between long haul and access networks, aggregating lower rate clients into higher speed OC-48 and OC-192 trunks," said Steve Perna, vice president and general manager of PMC-Sierra's Optical Networking Division. "PMC-Sierra's CHESS-II chipset offers a complete metro solution allowing next-generation carrier-class metro networks to offer increased service-level provisioning to users at lower cost by mapping multiple client services onto individual WDM/DWDM wavelengths."

Availability and pricing
The SPECTRA-9953, CRSU-4x2488, TBS-9953, and TSE-160 will be available during the third quarter of 2001, and pricing will depend on quantity ordered.

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