MRV Communications Inc. (MRVC)

[kazcul]

MRV OptiSwitch Solution Proven in First-Ever Multi-Vendor Mobile Backhaul Interoperability Showcase

Feb 6, 2008 16:23:02 (ET)

CHATSWORTH, Calif., Feb 06, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- MRV COMMUNICATIONS, INC. (MRVC, Trade ), a leading provider of products and services for out-of-band networking, WDM and optical transport, metro Ethernet, fiber optic components, 10GE and other service aware networking products, today announced that Ethernet demarcation and aggregation devices from its OptiSwitch(R) product line have demonstrated interoperability as part of the world's first mobile backhaul interoperability demonstration at MPLS and Ethernet World Congress 2008 (Feb. 5-8 in Paris) that is organized by EANTC and supported by IP/MPLS Forum and the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF).

The multi-vendor interoperability demonstration highlighted Circuit Emulation Services in the radio access network, packet-based backhaul, MPLS transport services backhaul and Ethernet operations, administration and management (OAM) tools to maintain and measure SLAs. MRV demonstrated the MEF standards-based carrier Ethernet features of three of its OptiSwitch products that enable mobile operators to differentiate their services portfolio with advanced service level agreements (SLA).

"With wireless networks approaching 'broadband' bandwidth speeds, carriers are turning to optical Ethernet to deploy the highest bandwidth and lowest-cost infrastructure available to backhaul this increase in traffic," said Stan Hubbard, senior analyst for carrier Ethernet services and equipment markets for Heavy Reading. "This interoperability demonstration shows that carrier Ethernet can be broadly deployed for this application. MRV's participation shows it is a leader in supporting the standards that make interoperability possible."

"This interoperability demonstration is an important step toward widespread adoption of carrier Ethernet for mobile backhaul and is a clear indication that an increasing number of vendors are capitalizing on this trend," said Noam Lotan, president and CEO of MRV Communications. "Our OptiSwitch line is designed with the rich feature set that can work cross-functionally with other equipment to bring carrier-grade services to the demarcation and aggregation points of any backhaul network."

MRV's OptiSwitch OS9024-M demonstrated MPLS / hierarchical-VPLS multipoint-to-multipoint transport services and compliance to standard-based traffic engineering, signaling and sub 50ms service protection in a first-mile MPLS aggregation network. For the end-to-end transport connectivity, MRV provided multicast (E-Tree) services according to an MEF draft version of Ethernet Service Definitions, Phase 2. The demonstration involved the OptiSwitch OS910-M acting as a root in an E-Tree that facilitated and enabled point-to-multipoint service.

Additionally, MRV demonstrated the OptiSwitch OS910-M by using the MEF-8 specification to encapsulate TDM traffic arriving at an E1/T1 interface over a packet switched network (PSN). The emulated circuit used a standard point-to-point Ethernet (E-Line) transport service across a provider backbone bridge with traffic engineering (TBB-TE) metro network, the MPLS core and the MPLS metro networks. In a separate test, an MRV OptiSwitch304 was used as a cell site CPE to successfully backhaul voice and data traffic from a WCDMA base station across a packet-based access network to an aggregation switch.

Native Ethernet fault management and measurements are essential for delivery of high-quality end-to-end services to business customers and mobile stations. By incorporating a wide spectrum of end-to-end Service OAM tools to monitor SLAs, MRV successfully demonstrated standard-based connectivity fault management (IEEE802.1ag connectivity check, loopback and link trace), performance measurement (ITU-T Y.1731- latency, jitter and loss) and Ethernet in first mile OAM (IEEE802.3ah discovery, loopback and dying gasp).

About OptiSwitch

MRV's OptiSwitch(R) family is an award-winning line of compact carrier Ethernet switching platforms that range from the OS9000 Metro Aggregation series to the OS900 /OS300 demarcation series. OptiSwitch products provide service providers with a full suite of carrier-grade Ethernet services along with high-availability, enhanced quality of services, security, TDM Circuit Emulation and Ethernet Operation, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) support. The uniqueness of a full suite of OAM tools creates flexible service awareness and rigid SLAs. OptiSwitch products meet IEEE, ITU and MEF standards, offering complete control to simplify deployment and management, while maintaining full interoperability and visibility into customer and provider networks.

EANTC Boilerplate

The European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC) offers vendor-neutral consultancy and test facilities for network equipment manufacturers, service providers and enterprise customers. Primary business areas include interoperability, conformance, and performance testing for IP/MPLS, Carrier Ethernet and Triple Play technologies and applications. For more information contact Carsten Rossenhovel, Managing Director, at +49.30.3180595-0 or via e-mail at [e-mail].

IP/MPLS Forum Boilerplate

The IP/MPLS Forum is an international, industry-wide non-profit association of service providers, equipment vendors and enterprise users. The focus of the Forum is to advance the deployment of multi-vendor, multi-service packed-based networks, associated applications and interworking solutions for telecommunications and networking. The forum is driving the convergence of ATM, Frame Relay and IP/MPLS technologies in the global telecom industry through interoperability initiatives, implementation agreements and educational and marketing resources and programs. For more information, contact Alexa Morris, Executive Director, at [phone] or via e-mail at [e-mail]. http://www.ipmplsforum.org .

About MRV Communications, Inc.

MRV Communications, Inc. ("MRV") is a leading provider of network equipment and services, and optical components. MRV's networking business provides equipment used by commercial customers, governments and telecommunications service providers, and includes switches, routers, physical layer products and out-of-band management products as well as specialized networking products for aerospace, defense and other applications including voice and cellular communication. MRV's optical components business provides optical communications components for metropolitan, access and Fiber-to-the-Premises applications, through its wholly owned subsidiary SourcePhotonics, Inc. MRV markets and sells its products worldwide through a variety of channels, including a dedicated direct sales force, manufacturers' representatives, value-added-resellers, distributors and systems integrators. MRV also has operations in Europe that provide network system design, integration and distribution services that include products manufactured by third-party vendors, as well as internally developed and manufactured products. Publicly traded since 1992, MRV is listed on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol MRVC. For more information about MRV and its products, please call [phone] or visit our websites at www.mrv.com and www.sourcephotonics.com .

SOURCE: MRV Communications, Inc.

MRV Communications, Inc.
David Rodewald
805-494-9508
[e-mail]