Ciena Advances Terabit Switch to Support Surging Web-Scale Demands from Operators

Delivering unique advantages around SDN and network virtualization, Ciena added several new powerful hardware and software capabilities to its 5430 Packet-Optical Platform.

Designed to improve service velocity for high-bandwidth, on-demand applications and to enhance service economics, the new capabilities to the 5430 make hybrid packet OTN switching networks highly scalable, efficient and agile, paving the way toward virtualized, SDN-based architectures.

The upgraded 5430 provides up to 15 Terabits (Tb/s) of capacity to service provider, submarine and cable networks – a key capability in today’s dynamic, web-scale world where traffic growth is driven by on-demand video streaming, enterprise cloud adoption and virtualized network functions.

•According to leading optical research firm Dell’Oro, Ciena has maintained the number one global share for the past two consecutive years in Optical Packet, a market which is expected to grow to $12.4B by 2019.
•Powered by Ciena’s next-generation family of silicon chips, the latest additions to Ciena’s 5430 provide up to five times more port density, four times switching capacity and 60 percent reduction of power consumption per switched Gb/s than the current platform – all in the same footprint and with in-service upgrades to mitigate service interruption. The enhanced 5430 significantly lowers OPEX, space requirements and simplifies network complexity.
•Leveraging Ciena’s WaveLogic 3 Extreme chipset, the 5430 also quadruples the 100G DWDM port density within the same footprint and adds extra modulation flexibility. Each port can be individually programmable to operate in QPSK or 16QAM modulation, enabling providers to maximize capacity for any reach with a single card.
•In addition, a new set of packet networking features has been introduced on the 5430 to offer rich Metro-Ethernet-Forum (MEF) based services for consistent service delivery, faster turn-up and provisioning, and seamless evolution from circuit to packet.
•Utilizing Ciena’s field-proven OneConnect Intelligent Control plane, the 5430 also provides greater network agility and automation by offering intelligent software to optimize operations and reduce costs, accelerate service turn-up and set the foundation of a more dynamic network infrastructure.
•The enhanced platform is currently being deployed by a number of leading service providers globally, including SK Telecom, Korea’s largest telecommunications company, to support mobile and next generation business and consumer broadband offerings.

“To succeed in today’s on-demand world, providers need networks that are agile, scalable and highly-resilient not only in the core, where traffic is concentrated, but at submarine landing stations and wireless aggregation points as well. Our next-generation family of silicon chips powers the 5430 platform to deliver the highest protocol agnostic switching capacity on the market, ensuring a path for growth without adding operational complexity or service disruption.” said, Francois Locoh-Donou, Senior Vice President, Global Products Group, Ciena.