Subudhi Consulting Group

by Jeff Lapak, Senior Engineer and David Estes, Ethernet Research and Development Engineer
University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory

Published on Lightwave’s blog
November 22, 2010

The IEEE 802.3ba 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet standard presents some unique testing challenges for both product developers and users. First among these is the additional test equipment technicians require to perform some of the formerly routine evaluations of Ethernet equipment.

The standard defines several operating speeds that rely on multiple lanes running at serial speeds of 10 to 25 Gbps. The upside of this methodology is that companies may be able to reuse test equipment purchased for measurement of physical layer properties, especially at 10 Gbps. However, new adaptors and specialized wavelength splitting tools may need to be purchased for laboratories whose focus previously centered on earlier flavors of Ethernet. This is due to the fact that several of the PHY types defined in 802.3ba rely on WDM on a single optical fiber, while many of the others rely on ribbon-style optical cables with multiple fiber-optic channels per cable. Characterization of the adaptors will be critical to obtaining accurate measurements of the underlying physical layer.

In addition to these physical layer measurements, frame generation and bit-error ratio testing (BERT) also suffer from increased complexity in 40 and 100 Gigabit Ethernet. While test equipment for generating frames is already available from major manufacturers, the price tag is relatively high and may be out of reach for some testing labs. Many companies may end up relying on their own devices for frame generation, which may limit the coverage and testable bandwidth of their devices.

Click here to read the full article.

Today, SCG joins the Richmond Ad Club to celebrate Beaujolais Day, which marks the release of the first bearings of the Gamay grape from the Beaujolais region of France.
A lightweight, purplish wine with a fruity flavor, Beaujolais Nouveau is loved by novice and experienced wine drinkers alike. French law forbids the release of Beaujolais Nouveau before the third Thursday in November - thus, Beaujolais Day was created, and parties herald its arrival.  The wine is only produced for a few weeks until slower fermenting wines are ready to be sampled.

Cheers to celebrating the good grape!

Location: REstore RVA, 1211 E. Cary St., Richmond, VA

Time: 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Year-End Availability Planned for First Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) Interoperability Testing Tool

November 09, 2010 08:03 AM Eastern Time

DURHAM, N.H.–(EON: Enhanced Online News)–The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), an independent provider of broad-based testing and standards conformance services for the networking industry, today announced at the TelcoTV conference that the lab would work with BroadLight, the leading supplier of fiber access processors, to provide a GPON testing tool for the cable and telecommunications industry. UNH-IOL will bring its considerable focus and expertise in creating interoperability and conformance testing suites to the effort, while BroadLight, as one of the pioneers in GPON will leverage its Optical Line Terminal (OLT) development platform.

TelcoTV will be held from November 9-11, 2010 at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, NV, and is a major North American event designed to help telecom service providers explore economical technology advances. UNH-IOL representatives will be at booth #SP-154 to provide insights on the latest test suites and how to leverage them to cost effectively meet network interoperability requirements for the telecoms industry.

The growing interest in GPON reflects both fiber as a virtually limitless bandwidth conduit and GPON as an efficient and cost-effective way to deploy fiber. With downstream speeds of 2.5 Gbps and upstream speeds of 1.25 Gbps, GPON can handle the demand for HD IPTV, online gaming and cloud computing applications. As service providers face increasing levels of competition, GPON provides the cost structure, capacity flexibility and bandwidth-intensive application support for both consumer and enterprise markets.

In cooperation with the UNH-IOL, BroadLight is providing the platform for the development of the GPON test suite that complies with the guidelines specified by the Broadband Forum, a global consortium focused on the development of global broadband network specifications. BroadLight’s participation is on the infrastructure aspects of testing, specifically on the best of class BL3458 processor chip family and the basis for the UNH-IOL’s development of the OLT emulator test tool.

“We are currently the only organization offering interoperability testing for GPON,” said Jason Walls, UNH-IOL Senior Technologist. “We are always pleased when a technology leader such as BroadLight provides equipment and support to allow us to keep our consortium members ahead of the market with leading edge testing suites.”

“The UNH-IOL reputation for independent testing and focus on quality enables us to be confident in working with them on new testing suites,” said BroadLight’s VP of Business Development, Doron Tal. “We believe the combination of the technical expertise of the lab’s staff and our platform and on-going support to the interoperability process contributes to the success of the entire industry.”

In addition to the GPON testing suite announcement, the UNH-IOL will also participate in a TelcoTV conference session entitled, “Raising Your Standards: Keys to a Successful Certification Program,” where Mr. Walls will outline the fundamentals of creating a successful certification program, as well as the pitfalls to avoid. As part of the Standards Pavilion at the show, Mr. Walls will moderate a series of presentations on Wednesday, November 10 and Thursday, November 11. The goal is to bring together standards bodies and industry forums to address questions about industry standards and their implications, provide expert advice on which standards bodies to approach and examine key standards that have and have not been ratified.

The UNH-IOL offers a variety of testing programs, or consortiums, representing a collaboration of industry leaders in network equipment, test equipment and industry forums, as well as service providers.

The UNH-IOL collaborative testing model distributes the cost of performing trusted, independent testing and validation through an annual membership. More information on the UNH-IOL’s entire suite of industry leading testing programs can be found at: http://www.iol.unh.edu/services/testing/. Specific information on the GPON Consortium can be found at: http://www.iol.unh.edu/services/testing/gpon/.

Click here to view press release on Business Wire.

Track Content Strategies

Presentation: Leveraging Infrastructure Assets to Get with the Program

Media & entertainment companies understand the growth potential of IP-based broadband services and while the services get most of the attention, the bigger story is how to leverage existing and future network infrastructure to build your business.  This session will examine optimal network architecture for content distribution and delivery worldwide and explain how flexibility in shaping bandwidth, connections and pricing are fundamental to containing costs.  Attendees will learn how to combine assets and work with other providers and partners to successfully deliver on-line TV and video, as well as other new applications, at guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS), levels, creating new growth strategies.  

Speaker: Michael Wheeler, VP, NTT Communications Global IP Network, NTT America, Inc.

11/9/2010
2:55 PM - 3:25 PM

Click for more information about Light Reading’s TelcoTV.

Service Provider CTO / Senior Technologist Roundtable
Senior technology experts from leading service providers will share their visions for the near-term and longer-term development of the Ethernet services industry; how they are leveraging the latest Carrier Ethernet, MPLS, and packet optical technologies to deliver on that vision; and what they would like to see next in the way of network technologies they can leverage to control costs, drive revenues, and improve customer experience.

Co-Moderators: Stan Hubbard, Senior Analyst, Heavy Reading & Carol Wilson, Chief Editor, Events, Light Reading

Panel:
Doug Junkins, CTO, NTT America
Matthew Finnie, CTO, Interoute
Glen Grochowski, Member of Technical Staff, XO Communications
Jeffrey L. Cox, Director of Network Research & Technology, BT

Click for more information about Light Reading’s Ethernet Expo Americas.

By Rhonda Ascierto | Ovum Straight Talk | Published 29 October 2010

The IEEE has approved the first standard for reducing the power consumption of Ethernet links. The standard may not have a large impact initially, but it could trigger further developments that will yield a significant reduction in global ICT power consumption and carbon emissions.
New EEE standard is an important step, but its initial impact won’t be dramatic

The Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) standard, or IEEE 802.3az, aims to reduce energy consumption at the silicon level by sending network interfaces into a low-power mode during periods of low link utilization. In other words, it makes Ethernet switches and devices less chatty during “quiet states” (i.e. when an active Ethernet connection is not transmitting user data) without interrupting the network link. One of EEE’s advantages is that no complex configuration is needed as EEE-enabled devices will save energy automatically.

The need for the EEE standard, which was ratified in September, has arisen from faster Ethernet speeds and greater network loads, which have resulted in higher electricity bills. EEE’s long-term importance is significant given that the amount of Ethernet traffic will continue to grow and speeds will continue to increase.

The greatest power-saving opportunities for EEE are for devices with low network utilization rates. The less a device utilizes an Ethernet connection, the more quiet states (and therefore the more power-saving opportunities) it has. EEE power savings will be limited in datacenters because there is generally less network traffic downtime in these environments than there is with client devices. However, in notebooks, desktops, and workstations, deploying EEE on the Ethernet port could reduce the device’s total energy consumption by 75% to 80% – a rate that could lead to cumulative annual savings of multiple terawatts.

Jeff Lapak, who is the industry lead for the EEE taskforce at the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Laboratory, estimated that if all Ethernet devices in the US that currently run over twisted-pair cable were EEE-enabled it would save approximately $300m per year. Obviously, the replacement of traditional Ethernet ports with EEE-enabled ports will happen gradually over the next decade, although by late 2012 all new Ethernet ports will likely be EEE-enabled. However, $300m per year is a drop in the ocean of total datacenter power costs, let alone total ICT power costs.

Click here to read the full article.