TranSwitch and TPACK announce End-to-End Ethernet over NG-PDH

Ethernet over NG-PDH is based on the same GFP (Generic Framing Procedure), VCAT (Virtual Concatenation) and LCAS (Link Capacity Adjustment Scheme) technology used in Ethernet over NG-SONET/SDH. It is standardized by the ITU-T in recommendations G.8040, G.7043 and G.7042 and is currently under development by a number of major equipment manufacturers. The key advantages of Ethernet over NG-PDH are a robust encapsulation method based on GFP leading to fewer dropped packets and the ability to add, remove and restore bandwidth capacity without affecting ongoing traffic provided by LCAS.

"Ethernet over SONET/SDH using GFP, VCAT and LCAS has proven to be a success and is widely used to support Ethernet services. Now, this same technology can be applied to PDH-based connections to allow new services to be deployed while re-using these valuable assets," said Dr. Hoshang Mulla, vice president, Marketing for TranSwitch. "By cooperating with TPACK, we have a complete solution with both a CPE device and an efficient aggregation solution."

"The key challenge for many service providers and equipment vendors is to smoothly migrate to a packet-based future, while making optimal use of existing resources," said Peter Viereck, CEO, TPACK. "This combined Ethernet over NG-PDH solution allows Ethernet services to be offered where only PDH connections are available. This is particularly appropriate in mobile backhaul scenarios, which are predominantly based on either PDH copper or microwave connections and will be for some time to come. The cooperation with TranSwitch combines a world-class CPE chip with our flexible FPGA-based aggregation mapper ensuring a proven, yet adaptable end-to-end solution."