Native TDM networks are becoming obsolete, operationally expensive, difficult to maintain, power- and space-inefficient, and unable to handle traffic efficiently.

Using 6500 PTS provides a high-density TDM and native Ethernet on-ramp to a next-generation packet optical network. As services transition from TDM-to-Packet, the same 6500 PTS can be used to support Ethernet and IP/MPLS services and seamlessly transport the legacy TDM services.

Addressing TDM migration by expanding the use of legacy equipment is not a sustainable business model. As shown in above2, traditional legacy 3/1 DACS equipment can take up to ten times the space and five times the power as the 6500 PTS.

Using advanced routing and switching technology and Ethernet/OTN switching fabric, the 6500 PTS delivers unprecedented scale and density.

Service velocity has become a critical competitive advantage for network operators. In many cases, service velocity is the determining factor in winning new service sales. The 6500 PTS implements Ciena’s unique and secure Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP) capabilities, allowing network operators to rapidly deploy IP/MPLS services in a completely automated manner. With no human intervention required, manual provisioning errors are eliminated. Most importantly, ZTP improves service deployment velocity and offers significant competitive advantages.

As network operators and their customers increasingly rely on new IP/MPLS networks, providers must maintain
the reliability and deterministic behavior of the legacy TDM services. Networks must support a broad array of Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) capabilities to ensure network operators can proactively and reactively maintain and report on the ongoing health of their metro Ethernet networks and services. The 6500 PTS supports a comprehensive set of hardware-assisted OAM capabilities—including per-service Ethernet fault (IEEE 802.1ag) and performance monitoring (ITU-T Y.1731), and embedded line-rate Service Activation Test (RFC2544 and Y.1564 KPI’s)—to help guarantee and manage strict, market-differentiating SLAs.

Link Aggregation Group (LAG), Distributed-LAG (D-LAG), MPLS-TP, or MPLS alternate path capabilities provide redundancy and resilience by addressing single point-of failure concerns and maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction.

Ciena’s Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) domain controller software offers a unique and comprehensive solution for the administration of mission-critical networks that span access, metro, and core domains, and provides unprecedented multilayer visibility from the photonic to the network layer. With this innovative management approach, MCP returns control of the metro network and services directly to the network operator. By providing a unified view of the network from the photonic layer to the network layer, MCP ensures network operations are simple, secure, and highly cost-effective.

The heartbeat of any circuit-based network is timing. The 6500 PTS supports a flexible arrangement of timing modes of operation including an internal clock, BITS, Line, Synchronous Ethernet, and 1588v2-Grand Master, boundary, and ordinary clock support.

The 6500 PTS supports a flexible menu of service offerings ranging from MEF-compliant E-Line/E-LAN/E-Tree/E-Access/ E-Transit, to L3 services over a carrier-class, connection oriented infrastructure using MPLS, MPLS-TE, and MPLS-TP.

The 6500 PTS supports fine-grained SLA monitoring and enforcement techniques to help operators deliver successfully on tight SLA guarantees. Hierarchical QoS permits delivery of a wide range of traffic types including management, timing/ synchronization, multiple customer-prioritized, and best-effort service traffic, without interference or degradation. These capabilities enable greater revenue generation by utilizing available network resources more efficiently.

Sophisticated VLAN tag manipulation and control allow innovative customer traffic separation approaches and a rich set of classification of service flows through the switch. Hierarchical ingress metering can be configured for sub-port services, offering the ultimate in flexible flow control based on L2, L3, and L4 classification. In addition, egress bandwidth shaping on a per-EVC basis is built to allow fine-tuning delay and buffering efficiency within the device.

In addition to its industry-leading Ethernet capabilities, the 6500 PTS supports multiservice transport over Ethernet networks, allowing traditional TDM, ATM, and native Ethernet traffic to be carried over metro backhaul and core data networks.

• Structured Agnostic TDM access (T1/E1 – SAToP)
• Structured Aware TDM access (nxDS0/E0- CESoPSN)
• Full support of IETF Pseudowire Emulation Edge-to-Edge (PWE3) over Ethernet and MPLS networks

The 6500 PTS takes circuit emulation to the next level, allowing the service to be carried as a co-routed, route-diverse protected service adhering to strict deterministic and restoration needs.

Making liberal use of a Ethernet/OTN fabric to support TDM circuit emulation Ethernet, IP, and MPLS technologies, the 6500 PTS can support any number of new network architectures.

The 6500 PTS supports a flexible selection of service offerings, including L2 and L3 services over a carrier-class, connection oriented infrastructure using MPLS and Segment Routing (SR). Using SR policy, different source-routed domains and their services, including L2VPN, TDM-PW, and L3VPNs, can be selected for a path to upstream routers. Ciena’s 6500 PTS supports coexistence of SR and other signaling protocols, including Resource Reservation Protocol-Traffic Engineering (RSVP-TE), enabling seamless MPLS connectivity and scalability of intra domain SR paths.

6500 PTS supports Border Gateway Protocol (BGP); Exterior Gateway Protocol (ERP); BGP-Labeled Unicast (BGP-LU) multiprotocol extensions; BGP Route Reflectors (BGP RR) to learn available routes without creating loops; and BGP Prefix Independent Convergence (BPG PIC) performance enhancements to decrease PE path convergence time should an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) or edge PE router fail and switch to a different PE router.

Dedicated, Virtual Routing Forwarding (VRF) instances per L3VPN or IPVPN can be provided on the 6500 PTS over MPLS transport (RSVP-TE or SR) to take advantage of MPLS resiliency such as FRR/TI-LFA, etc.