In the New Optical Internet, Central Offices are becoming overloaded with fiber. Connected by high speed fiber-optic links to the rest of the Internet, they are the major aggregation and disaggregation points and, with the rapid growth of FTTx, the customer links are also increasingly fiber-based. Managing these external optical links is an increasing problem. Rapid growth in both the number and speeds of these links, combined with the need for increased reliability and flexibility, must be handled in a very cost-constrained environment.
Glimmerglass Intelligent Optical Switching solutions enable the automation of the management of the last manual layer, the physical layer. In doing so, they greatly improve availability and reduce operating costs.
Create
Glimmerglass switches provide a full non-blocking, transparent crossconnect. In milliseconds a lightpath can be created between any fiber input and output. The distribution of lightpaths to aggregation/disaggregation equipment or straight through the Central Office unchanged can be rapidly and remotely reprovisioned with a few clicks of a mouse using the Glimmerglass ClickFlow GUI interface or with a few TL1 commands. Since the lightpaths are fully transparent, the newly created lightpath will transport any data format and speed.
Monitor
Continuous input and output power monitoring, combined with transparent switching provides the Central Office operator with a superior tool for monitoring the health of the network and rapid fault isolation. For testing, loopback paths may be created in milliseconds to help isolate the fault to a particular piece of equipment or fiber. SONET or other test equipment attached to the Glimmerglass IOS can be quickly switched into any lightpath for comprehensive analysis. All of this can be performed remotely with no on-site intervention required.
Protect
In the event that Glimmerglass optical power monitoring detects a fault, automatic switching can quickly restore service. With the ability to rapidly transfer massive data streams from one set of lightpaths to another, Glimmerglass switches are the ideal solution for providing protection from equipment failure.
High Density, Low Profile
Glimmerglass Intelligent Optical Switches have the highest fiber density in the industry. Up to 190 fibers (95 x 95) are supported in just two rack units (3.5” or 8.9cm) and up to 380 fibers (190 x 190) in 4 rack units. Weighing only 20 to 38 pounds (9 to 17kg), power consumption ranges from 35 to 80 watts and requires no special cooling.
Future Proof
Glimmerglass Intelligent Optical Switches fully transparent crossconnects. Once installed, the Central Office is ready for any future mix of data rate and format. No changes are required to migrate from GE to 10GE to 100GE or from OC-48 to OC-192 or even OC-768 SONET/SDH. Upgrade the transmission systems, not the switching fabric.
Learn More
Contact us today for more information and to arrange a free evaluation. Contact us now.
