Soapstone Networks Participates in World's Largest Carrier Ethernet Interoperability Demonstration at Carrier Ethernet World Congress
Showcases industry's first multi-vendor dynamic control plane
Geneva, September 24, 2007 — Avici Systems' (NASDAQ:AVCI), Soapstone Networks, today announced that it is participating in the world's largest interoperability test event at Carrier Ethernet World Congress (CEWC). Its Provider Network Controller (PNC)™ successfully demonstrated interoperability, including the dynamic establishment of multiple services across a multi-vendor Provider Backbone Transport (PBT) network
The CEWC and Interoperability event is endorsed by Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) and is taking place in Geneva Switzerland, September 24-27 at the Hotel Intercontinental. The Interoperability event highlights Carrier Ethernet strengths and incorporates MEF defined Ethernet services. Over 50 engineers representing 24 vendors constructed the Interoperability exhibit made up of over 65 devices. The 2007 Interoperability showcase, initiated by the European Advanced Networking Test Center (EANTC), was first developed and conducted in Berlin, Germany over a two-week period during August.
The PNC dynamically created multiple services with resilient backup paths across a multi-vendor network configuration consisting of Nortel Networks MERS 8600 and Extreme Networks BlackDiamond 12802R switches as endpoints. In real-time, the PNC received requests for Ethernet services and computed optimal paths through the network, accounting for current topology, then signaled the configuration to each network element to instantiate each service.
The EANTC testing demonstrated the following capabilities of the PNC:
- The ability to discover network equipment and associated topology.
- The ability to engineer and provision PBT tunnels across multiple vendors' equipment automatically.
- The ability to identify the optimum path for PBT tunnels between endpoints while meeting Service Level Agreement and QoS requirements while optimizing for commercial business rules.
- When required, the ability to create suitable backup PBT trunks across disjointed parts of the network infrastructure.
According to Ray Mota Ph.D., Chief Strategist and President of Consulting at Synergy Research Group, "this test represents a major milestone in advancing the adoption of PBT in carrier networks. Our research shows that one of the major obstacles to the deployment of PBT in carrier networks is the lack of interoperability and the lack of a control plane. Soapstone Networks PNC is the first external control plane that can be deployed by service providers to dynamically provision services across a multi-vendor PBT network. This test is a clear signal to the industry that PBB-TE is ready for carrier consideration."
"We are very pleased to participate in this ground-breaking interoperability event," said Esmeralda Swartz, VP Marketing and Business Development at Soapstone Networks. "The ability to deploy multi-vendor networks that leverage best-in-class technology is critical to the success of PBT technology. We look forward to working with our Carrier Ethernet partners to accelerate the adoption of PBT technology."
The Soapstone Networks PNC mediates between multiple resource requests from the OSS services/control layer via a standard SOA based interface. The PNC dynamically models the available and occupied capacity of the network, selecting the best path based on modeling along with any other QoS based constraints. Services on the network are dynamically migrated to allow the restoration of backup paths in the event of a hard failure or to allow network equipment to be taken on/off line. The PNC continuously monitors for SLA compliance as well as network faults, allowing intelligent fault remediation as well as fault reporting between network operation and provisioned services.
To learn more visit Soapstone Networks at the Carrier Ethernet World Congress, Geneva, Switzerland, September 24-28, 2007, where you can meet with Soapstone experts to discuss how Carrier Ethernet can meet the technical and business requirements for today's networks.
About Soapstone Networks
Soapstone Networks is at the forefront of an evolution to Carrier Ethernet by delivering resource control systems that connect NGN software-constructed services to the new Carrier Ethernet transport network. Soapstone creates a common control framework that decouples services from underlying network technologies. The Soapstone solution dynamically provisions precise, SLA-quality services, continuously optimizing utilization of network resources to bring orderly, predictable business-driven behavior to service provider networks. The future of Carrier Ethernet - www.soapstonenetworks.com.
This release may contain information about Soapstone Networks' future expectations, plans, and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. When used in this press release, the words "will be" and other similar expressions are intended to identify such forward looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, Avici's ability to manage the transition of its core router business, the early stage of Soapstone Networks, market acceptance of Avici products, services and enhancements, customer purchasing patterns and commitments, development of the market place, reliance on technology and distribution partners, product development and enhancement, intensity of competition of other vendors, technological changes and other risks set forth in Avici's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
| Press Contact: |
| Kathryn Sloan Marketing Communications Manager Soapstone Networks ksloan@soapstonenetworks.com 978-715-2300 |