Cellular operators are presented with the challenge of delivering ever increasing data-centric applications to mobile handsets and access users while dealing with the constraints of providing those services over leased facilities. The traditional method of delivering all cellular services over leased T1/E1 lines provided a robust method for delivering voice services, but has come under pressure as data-service demands increase to the 10's or 100's of Mbit/s. The adoption of mobile devices such as smart phones, video-enabled handsets, mobile broadband access and other media eriched services will continue to drive operators to look at the most efficient way of fulfilling these network requirements in a the most cost-effective way.

Ethernet provides a scalable and highly cost-effective transport platform, but will continue to be used in conjunction with TDM services for the near-term. Any product designed to target this market therefore needs to provide native TDM services with the flexibility and scalability to grow as data and Ethernet based applications continue to expand into a larger percentage of overall traffic. With leased access facilities typically accounting for up to 30% of overall OPEX (Yankee Group, 2005), the need to minimize the dependence on T1/E1 services for Ethernet support is apparent.

Solution: FiberSLAM 100 Platforms

The FiberSLAM 105 provides an integrated Ethernet and TDM aggregation platform for service delivery. In addition, the ability to deploy 1 to 5 wavelengths of traffic service enables the provider to expand their bandwidth capacity through pay as you grow optical expansion for whatever facility is required, from OC3/STM1 to OC48/STM16, including GbE and Fibre Channel. In addition, the ability to take wavelengths directly from a connected device will continue to drive down the cost of these higher bandwidth services. For lower density requirements, the FiberSLAM 101 provides data and T1/E1 flexibility at a lower capital expenditure for sites with smaller expansion expectations.

Mobile Backhaul Network Diagram

As new services are added at the node, the FiberSLAM 105 platform will continue to scale, with pay as you grow optical flexibility. Upgrades can consist of new data or Sonet/SDH wavelengths as dicated by the needs of the site.

Features

Location Agnostic: Environmentally hardened device capable of deployment in remote cabinets
TDM Support: Interface support for 16 T1/E1 and 3 DS3/E3 inputs for FS105, 16 x T1/E1 for FS101
Data Support: 2 x GbE and 2 x 10/100 ports for high speed Ethernet data expansion and transport
SFP architecture: Built to support short reach, long reach, bi-directional single fiber, CWDM and DWDM SFP modules that meet whatever deployment requirements arise
Expandable: Directly convert client interfaces to C/DWDM wavelengths or accept colored optical signals from attached equipment optics

FiberSLAM Platform Value Proposition

The FiberSLAM 100 family of products is designed to carry today's TDM traffic with day one Ethernet expansion in a single platform that provides wavelength services with multiplexing capability. By merging the optical and aggregation layer, the FS100 products lower capital expenditure and increase manageability for the entire transport delivery solution.

Zhone's Single Line Multi-Service architecture (SLMS™), allows carriers to concurrently deliver voice, new premium data and video services over copper or fiber access lines.