Connecticut Education Network University of Connecticut NEREN RON Equipment Futures June 23, 2004

Equipment Observations (low end) Poor Current State for O&M of IP on GigE Ethernet Pluggables  Vendor Encoding of serial numbers eliminates 3 rd party optic options (probably better gear?)  10GE Pluggables Xenpak w/EDFA on LEAF possible to 120Km but not often supported or discussed, no optical control plane No clear 80 km Xenpak or XFP future CWDM OADM packaging adds complexity No cost effective test gear to match CWDM Still arguably a great, cheap, disruptive approach

Equipment Observations (mid range) We’re spending lots of dollars on separate software licenses, maintenance contracts and O&M systems for optical and L3+ services Telemetry still lousy for the large enterprise Am I running a digital optical network or a CATV system Composite Triple Beet, Carrier to Noise Ratio, Harmonics, Composite Second Order, etc. all things I remember from balancing amplifier cascades. (Telemetry for that stunk too.)

Next Generation Equipment? Agile Amplification & Dispersion Approach  Not visit dependant as channel loading increases or fiber ages Interruption-free upgrades/changes Initially affordable & scalable Allow multi-point exchange of lambdas  Not just rings! Spurs & Aliens necessary  Support RON interconnection Good growth cost curve (>? Distruptive ?)

Our Current Approach: Assume optics and routers are separate Accept need to purchase/learn new O&M Look to roll wrappers in to transport layer Look for additional flexibility and features to be built in to –both- parts of the equation

Approach: OEO w/elec. fabric Still assume optics and routing is separate Essentially eliminate analog portion of the problem by doing full conversion and retiming to digital at each site Continues separation of Optic and Services hardware Provides switched wavelengths (aka HOPI) cheap 2.5G based cross fabric may create new barriers for wide-band migration to 40G and 100G Another highly complex device to understand, manage, troubleshoot and maintain Idea of a backbone electrical fabric probably increases opportunities for good multi-point junctions at high bandwidth Replace Line-Card router optics with this technology?

Approach: Purify, Simplify O & E Move digital timing, framing, shaping, etc. in to routers with controllable ITU grid wavelengths out (Large form pluggables?) Maybe even tunable wavelengths? Make optical portion pure optic amplification, Dispersion, balancing, etc. Eliminate shaping, timing, framing cards. Good telemetry and control back to routers for optic control Can I graph optical performance on Cricket/MRTG? Need dispersion compensation for 10G or eFEC at day0 Advance Alien Wavelengths in to Optic platforms Think about federated optical networks! Cannibalizes vendor business units & requires current business to do development together Single wavelength application can actually be router-only with no throw-aways as DWDM is added Probably still lousy at multi-directional fiber intersections

Other thoughts Drive vendors on telemetry from optics Anticipate we will need the ability to link RON’s, perhaps without a common national backbone for all services We need to solve Alien Wavelength problem on optical & router platforms Need ability to monitor and control Power, Wavelength, dispersion, eFEC, etc across the common control plane