Occam Networks announced the availability of two new blades for its BLC 6000 Broadband Loop Carrier System. The first is a 48-port ADSL2Plus blade and the second is a 48-port ADSL2Plus and Lifeline POTS blade. Both blades are currently in customer trials and will begin shipping in September 2004.
The new blades use ADSL2Plus technology, which delivers significant performance and interoperability improvements such as higher data rates, greater reach, advanced management, expanded diagnostics, enhanced power management and real-time rate adaptation.
Occam said its ADSL2Plus blade can be deployed as part of a full BLC 6000 loop carrier network or as a standalone unit to create a data and video overlay to an existing voice network. It can also be deployed as a remote IP DSLAM in a multi-dwelling building.
The second blade, which offers Lifeline POTS from each port, includes an internal soft splitter that eliminates the need for additional external hardware. The POTS traffic from all ports is converted to VoIP. The voice, data and video traffic are differentiated and transported over the feeder network following the provisioned QoS parameters. Voice traffic can be handed directly to a Next Generation softswitch or to a BLC 6000 Central Office Terminal (COT) to provide standard TR-08/GR-303 connections to a traditional Class 5 switch.
The IP DSLAM capability of the blades provide a conversion between the ATM protocol on the standard ADSL lines and the BLC 6000 native IP over Ethernet network. The BLC 6000 system strips away the complexity of ATM at the DSLAM port thereby eliminating the need for an ATM switch or other ATM infrastructure.
Each BLC blade includes 10 integrated Gigabit Ethernet ports. Up to six of these can be Gigabit Ethernet optical fiber ports to provide the access network with enough bandwidth to support hundreds of broadcast channels and to sustain the expected growth of Video on Demand (VoD). A single port can be used to support initial requirements, and additional Gigabit Ethernet ports can be brought online as VoD service demands grow.
Occam noted that its IP-based architecture provides streamlined network operation with digital video headend products. The BLC 6000 System transmits video streams as MPEG encoded signals in IP packets. Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) is included in the blade software to provide multicast capability at every node in the network. http://www.occamnetworks.com
