IEC Newsletter

Next-Generation Access

Michael Ritter, Vice President, Business Management, Ethernet Access, ADVA Optical Networking

Carrier networks are undergoing a period of significant change. High-bandwidth applications across all market segments are creating data bottlenecks in the network's edge. Carriers need to address how to transport high data volumes across the last mile with speed and service efficiency to ensure customer satisfaction and continued network performance.

Michael Ritter, ADVA Optical Networking's vice president of business management Ethernet, explores next-generation access network technologies and assesses the impact they will have on carrier networks.

Across the globe, carrier networks are reaching a critical juncture. High-bandwidth data demand from business and residential markets are creating an enormous strain on today's networks. This strain is felt most acutely at the network's edge, where high-bandwidth applications are creating significant data bottlenecks. To ensure effective data transport across the last mile, carriers need to address their access network and explore the next-generation technologies that are driving change.

In the access network, Ethernet is the most widely discussed next-generation technology. Long regarded as the technology of choice for local-area network (LAN) connectivity, Ethernet has now successfully been adopted in carrier networks. Enterprises are increasingly choosing Ethernet as the preferred data-link protocol for their wide-area networks (WANs), replacing frame relay and ATM — both legacy protocols that are entering a period of gradual decline. The reason for Ethernet's growth is its scalable flexibility and simplified service provisioning that is already optimized to transport Internet protocol (IP) and other Layer 3 protocols.

As Ethernet services continue to increase in popularity the question remains of how to move them across the last mile. Optical fiber to the end customer is the ideal solution, providing scalable bandwidth to fulfill even the most intensive data demands. In Europe, a number of carriers are adopting this solution. Neuf Cegetel and Fastweb are perhaps the two most successful examples. However, for many carriers this is not yet a practical or economical solution. Protracted fiber build-outs would severely impinge on carriers' CAPEX costs and would be unable to answer the bandwidth demand as quickly as is needed.

If optical fiber is not possible, carriers have only one option. They have to leverage their existing infrastructure to respond to network demands and meet customer expectations. To deliver broadband services across a heterogeneous mixture of legacy infrastructures, including copper, time division multiplex/plesiochronous digital hierarchy (TDM/PDH), and synchronous optical network/synchronous digital hierarchy (SONET/SDH), without significant cost or delay requires the use of a ubiquitous next-generation access solution.

The latest Ethernet access devices (EADs) to enter the marketplace offer this ubiquity across existing access network technologies. EADs can adopt Ethernet to various networking protocols and transport frames across any medium, providing scalable data throughout virtually anywhere in the world. A carrier's ability to offer intelligent Ethernet services ubiquitously is a competitive advantage in an environment where nearly all data sourcing equipment generates local Ethernet frames, regardless of the service or content that has to be carried in higher layers.

Ethernet's route from a best-effort service to a standardized access network technology has made decisive progress in recent years. Vendors have worked to ensure missing pieces of the carrier Ethernet jigsaw have been addressed, enabling it to move toward mass adoption. Most important, this includes the following:

Service-level agreement (SLA) monitoring-Quality of service (QoS) management has often posed significant challenges to Ethernet-minded service providers. However, advanced traffic management, policing, and stringent performance-monitoring capabilities at the user network interface (UNI) enable service providers to assure quality from the customer premises to the network core and end to end across a multi-domain network.
Remote operations, administration, and maintenance (OAM)-Ethernet now provides unparalleled service intelligence. It offers carriers the ability to monitor, test, diagnose, and resolve faults through an interface available anywhere on the network, removing the need for truck rolls and the associated costs. This service can be enhanced further with the adoption of the newly standardized connectivity fault management (CFM), which provides proactive connectivity monitoring.
Compliance with IEEE, ITU, and MEF standards-Carrier-class Ethernet is driven by a number of standards bodies, each developing technical specifications and implementation agreements. To achieve continued development, vendors must ally with and support these bodies.

The evolution of Ethernet to an access network technology is intertwined with the larger issue of interworking with core network transport. As the growth of data traffic continues to outpace the growth of voice traffic, carriers have started to move to a more packet-centric network architecture. While IP and multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) has established a strong foothold in many core networks, carriers are now looking for a converged low-cost infrastructure in the metro and access part of their networks. Carrier Ethernet is a viable solution and several mechanisms have emerged that simplify Ethernet-based traffic engineering and make it scalable for large-scale use in carrier networks. The most prominent approaches are T-MPLS and PBB-TE.

It is unlikely that one data-carrying mechanism will ever be chosen as the sole transport of choice, and this is where Ethernet access solutions need to be flexible and able to interwork with them all. A transport-centric approach is the ideal solution for service provides that have to navigate differing core network architectures and last-mile infrastructures. An open and protocol-agnostic approach is vital, not only for simplicity and increased throughput, but also for standardization. Increasingly strict regulations require carrier networks to be easily accessible. Here, interoperability among different access and core network providers is not only mission-critical, but also legally implicit. In the United Kingdom, BT Group's 21st Century Network (21CN) provides an ideal example of how an NGN can be built on a converged platform that promotes simpler operation and enhanced service delivery.

As demand for bandwidth-intensive applications continues to increase, Ethernet is assured of becoming the dominant networking technology. Already, applications as diverse as enterprise voice over IP (VoIP), IP virtual private networks (IP-VPNs), data-center interconnection, triple play, and IPTV are interdependent on Ethernet. As an access network technology and data-link protocol, Ethernet's flexibility is unsurpassed. As a consequence, Infonetics Research expects the Ethernet market to quadruple by 2010, while Ovum predicts that Ethernet service revenue will increase from $10 billion in 2006 to more than $20 billion by 2010.

This growth will only increase as Ethernet becomes further enmeshed with optical transport networks (OTNs). NGNs are dependent upon OTNs for the mass movement of data, and Ethernet is proving itself to be the ideal partner, offering carriers a converged end-to-end network of unparalleled intelligence and service delivery. Optical and Ethernet networks present a compelling business case, so much so that they are expected to replace SONET/SDH as the network of choice over the coming years.

Educational Content Provider
Michael Ritter, Vice President, Business Management, Ethernet Access, ADVA Optical Networking

ADVA Optical Networking has a long history of developing innovative Optical+Ethernet transport solutions, and Michael Ritter helps to ensure the company's Ethernet access solutions continue to satisfy current and emerging needs by driving ADVA's long-term product portfolio and sales strategies. Dr. Ritter assumed his current role, vice president of Business Management Ethernet Access, in April 2003 after working in carrier business development. He has made more than 100 presentations at industry conferences, and his articles have been published in more than a dozen publications in the trade media.

Dr. Ritter brought to ADVA eight years of experience working with the international service provider industry when he joined the company in August 2000. After leading a research and consulting team in telecommunications at the University of Würzburg in Germany, Dr. Ritter served with Siemens Information & Communication Transport Networks as a product line manager for SDH/SONET technology and then took over responsibility for strategic pricing.

Dr. Ritter earned a master's degree and doctorate in computer and communications science from Bayerische Julius-Maximilians Universtät Würzburg in Germany.


November 2007, Volume 1 back to index
Next-Generation Access Michael Ritter, Vice President, Business Management, Ethernet Access, ADVA Optical Networking Carrier networks are undergoing a period of significant change. High-bandwidth applications across all market segments are creating data bottlenecks in the network's edge. Carriers need to address how to transport high data volumes across the last mile with speed and service efficiency to ensure customer satisfaction and continued network performance. Michael Ritter, ADVA Optical Networking's vice president of business management Ethernet, explores next-generation access network technologies and assesses the impact they will have on carrier networks. Across the globe, carrier networks are reaching a critical juncture. High-bandwidth data demand from business and residential markets are creating an enormous strain on today's networks. This strain is felt most acutely at the network's edge, where high-bandwidth applications are creating significant data bottlenecks. To ensure effective data transport across the last mile, carriers need to address their access network and explore the next-generation technologies that are driving change. In the access network, Ethernet is the most widely discussed next-generation technology. Long regarded as the technology of choice for local-area network (LAN) connectivity, Ethernet has now successfully been adopted in carrier networks. Enterprises are increasingly choosing Ethernet as the preferred data-link protocol for their wide-area networks (WANs), replacing frame relay and ATM — both legacy protocols that are entering a period of gradual decline. The reason for Ethernet's growth is its scalable flexibility and simplified service provisioning that is already optimized to transport Internet protocol (IP) and other Layer 3 protocols. As Ethernet services continue to increase in popularity the question remains of how to move them across the last mile. Optical fiber to the end customer is the ideal solution, providing scalable bandwidth to fulfill even the most intensive data demands. In Europe, a number of carriers are adopting this solution. Neuf Cegetel and Fastweb are perhaps the two most successful examples. However, for many carriers this is not yet a practical or economical solution. Protracted fiber build-outs would severely impinge on carriers' CAPEX costs and would be unable to answer the bandwidth demand as quickly as is needed. If optical fiber is not possible, carriers have only one option. They have to leverage their existing infrastructure to respond to network demands and meet customer expectations. To deliver broadband services across a heterogeneous mixture of legacy infrastructures, including copper, time division multiplex/plesiochronous digital hierarchy (TDM/PDH), and synchronous optical network/synchronous digital hierarchy (SONET/SDH), without significant cost or delay requires the use of a ubiquitous next-generation access solution. The latest Ethernet access devices (EADs) to enter the marketplace offer this ubiquity across existing access network technologies. EADs can adopt Ethernet to various networking protocols and transport frames across any medium, providing scalable data throughout virtually anywhere in the world. A carrier's ability to offer intelligent Ethernet services ubiquitously is a competitive advantage in an environment where nearly all data sourcing equipment generates local Ethernet frames, regardless of the service or content that has to be carried in higher layers. Ethernet's route from a best-effort service to a standardized access network technology has made decisive progress in recent years. Vendors have worked to ensure missing pieces of the carrier Ethernet jigsaw have been addressed, enabling it to move toward mass adoption. Most important, this includes the following: Service-level agreement (SLA) monitoring-Quality of service (QoS) management has often posed significant challenges to Ethernet-minded service providers. However, advanced traffic management, policing, and stringent performance-monitoring capabilities at the user network interface (UNI) enable service providers to assure quality from the customer premises to the network core and end to end across a multi-domain network. Remote operations, administration, and maintenance (OAM)-Ethernet now provides unparalleled service intelligence. It offers carriers the ability to monitor, test, diagnose, and resolve faults through an interface available anywhere on the network, removing the need for truck rolls and the associated costs. This service can be enhanced further with the adoption of the newly standardized connectivity fault management (CFM), which provides proactive connectivity monitoring. Compliance with IEEE, ITU, and MEF standards-Carrier-class Ethernet is driven by a number of standards bodies, each developing technical specifications and implementation agreements. To achieve continued development, vendors must ally with and support these bodies. The evolution of Ethernet to an access network technology is intertwined with the larger issue of interworking with core network transport. As the growth of data traffic continues to outpace the growth of voice traffic, carriers have started to move to a more packet-centric network architecture. While IP and multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) has established a strong foothold in many core networks, carriers are now looking for a converged low-cost infrastructure in the metro and access part of their networks. Carrier Ethernet is a viable solution and several mechanisms have emerged that simplify Ethernet-based traffic engineering and make it scalable for large-scale use in carrier networks. The most prominent approaches are T-MPLS and PBB-TE. It is unlikely that one data-carrying mechanism will ever be chosen as the sole transport of choice, and this is where Ethernet access solutions need to be flexible and able to interwork with them all. A transport-centric approach is the ideal solution for service provides that have to navigate differing core network architectures and last-mile infrastructures. An open and protocol-agnostic approach is vital, not only for simplicity and increased throughput, but also for standardization. Increasingly strict regulations require carrier networks to be easily accessible. Here, interoperability among different access and core network providers is not only mission-critical, but also legally implicit. In the United Kingdom, BT Group's 21st Century Network (21CN) provides an ideal example of how an NGN can be built on a converged platform that promotes simpler operation and enhanced service delivery. As demand for bandwidth-intensive applications continues to increase, Ethernet is assured of becoming the dominant networking technology. Already, applications as diverse as enterprise voice over IP (VoIP), IP virtual private networks (IP-VPNs), data-center interconnection, triple play, and IPTV are interdependent on Ethernet. As an access network technology and data-link protocol, Ethernet's flexibility is unsurpassed. As a consequence, Infonetics Research expects the Ethernet market to quadruple by 2010, while Ovum predicts that Ethernet service revenue will increase from $10 billion in 2006 to more than $20 billion by 2010. This growth will only increase as Ethernet becomes further enmeshed with optical transport networks (OTNs). NGNs are dependent upon OTNs for the mass movement of data, and Ethernet is proving itself to be the ideal partner, offering carriers a converged end-to-end network of unparalleled intelligence and service delivery. Optical and Ethernet networks present a compelling business case, so much so that they are expected to replace SONET/SDH as the network of choice over the coming years. Educational Content Provider Michael Ritter, Vice President, Business Management, Ethernet Access, ADVA Optical Networking ADVA Optical Networking has a long history of developing innovative Optical+Ethernet transport solutions, and Michael Ritter helps to ensure the company's Ethernet access solutions continue to satisfy current and emerging needs by driving ADVA's long-term product portfolio and sales strategies. Dr. Ritter assumed his current role, vice president of Business Management Ethernet Access, in April 2003 after working in carrier business development. He has made more than 100 presentations at industry conferences, and his articles have been published in more than a dozen publications in the trade media. Dr. Ritter brought to ADVA eight years of experience working with the international service provider industry when he joined the company in August 2000. After leading a research and consulting team in telecommunications at the University of Würzburg in Germany, Dr. Ritter served with Siemens Information & Communication Transport Networks as a product line manager for SDH/SONET technology and then took over responsibility for strategic pricing. Dr. Ritter earned a master's degree and doctorate in computer and communications science from Bayerische Julius-Maximilians Universtät Würzburg in Germany.