PMC Enables 400G OTN Switching in Metro Networks

DIGI-G4 Scales OTN Line Card Capacity by 4X and Reduces Power by 50 Percent

PMC DIGI-G4 OTN Processor enables 400G OTN switching in metro networks (Graphic: Business Wire)

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--()--PMC-Sierra, Inc. (PMC®) (Nasdaq:PMCS), the semiconductor and software solutions innovator transforming networks that connect, move and store big data, today introduced its latest DIGI OTN processor, enabling the transition to 400G line cards in OTN switched metro networks. The new DIGI-G4 builds on the success of PMC’s DIGI-120G, which is globally deployed in service provider and hyperscale data center wide area networks (WANs) today. It is the industry’s densest single-chip 4x100G OTN processor with 50 percent less power per port than the previous generation. DIGI-G4 addresses the needs of an SDN-ready, encrypted transport infrastructure. It delivers the capacity, security and flexibility required for 400G line cards in packet optical transport platforms (P-OTP), ROADM/WDM and optimized data center interconnect platforms (see infographic).

Big data is driving metro network bandwidth to double to 110Tb/s by 20171, leading service providers to deploy additional OTN switched 100G optical capacity. In response, OEMs are scaling their transport platforms with 400G OTN line cards. DIGI-G4 is the industry’s first OTN processor to enable single-chip 400G line cards for OTN switching on P-OTPs. It increases 10G, 40G and 100G line card port density by 4X with flexible client mapping of Ethernet, storage, IP/MPLS and SONET/SDH, while reducing power by 50 percent per port. DIGI-G4 builds on the IP from DIGI-120G, enabling customers to maintain their rich feature set and software investment, which reduces time to market by up to six months and lowers development costs.

“China Mobile has already deployed one of the world’s largest 100G OTN switched networks and is now moving to further increase the capacity and density,” said Li Han, deputy director of the Network Technology Research Institute, China Mobile Communications Co., Ltd. “Our network must scale to meet bandwidth needs while reducing overall power consumption. Solutions like PMC’s DIGI-G4 that meet 100G density and power targets are needed for China Mobile to fulfill our end-to-end OTN strategy.”

DIGI-G4 Secures Hyperscale Data Center WAN

As the majority of enterprises migrate their workloads to the cloud, there is an increasing need for secure optical transport connectivity to and from, as well as between data centers. Unlike encryption at other networking layers, securing the optical layer with OTN guarantees 100 percent throughput, regardless of packet traffic size, with ultra-low latency. DIGI-G4 delivers multi-rate, sub-180ns latency OTN encryption, allowing cloud and communications service providers to ensure security without compromising performance. DIGI-G4 supports sub-wavelength OTN encryption and is compatible with OTN switched networks. These capabilities, combined with the densest 10G/40G/100G Ethernet ports, enables a new class of low-power, high-capacity transport platforms optimized specifically for the hyperscale data center WAN interconnect market (see whitepaper).

“Without DIGI-G4 the industry would be challenged to transition to 400G OTN switched metro networks,” said Babak Samimi, vice president of marketing and applications for PMC’s Communications Business Unit. “The world’s leading OEMs are designing around DIGI-G4 because our solution allows them to scale their product portfolios to the highest capacities at half the power per port, while leveraging their existing DIGI software investment. Coupled with new capabilities like OTN encryption, we’re solidifying PMC’s position as the industry leader in OTN processors.”

DIGI-G4 Delivers Flexibility for Transport SDN

According to Infonetics, three quarters of service providers are planning to deploy transport SDN2 to achieve multi-layer convergence, enable on-demand virtual network capabilities and deliver on-demand bandwidth services. OTN switching is required to extend SDN to optical transport in order to virtualize shared optical resources and enable on-demand provisioning of high-speed connections between data center customers. DIGI-G4’s unique architecture allows OTN and packet traffic to be flexibly groomed and switched together over 100G optical wavelengths in a single converged platform. It can also dynamically provision, switch and scale optical connections from 1Gb/s to 100Gb/s bandwidth without traffic interruption to enable bandwidth-on-demand services (see whitepaper).

OTN Software Accelerates Time to Market

DIGI-G4 includes PMC’s field-proven, carrier-qualified OTN Switching Software Development Kit (SDK), providing customers with the lowest risk, fastest time to market and lowest cost of development. Building on the DIGI family code base, common APIs allow OEMs to reuse their software with DIGI-G4. PMC is the only solution with an application-driven adapter layer to abstract device complexities into a set of pre-configured applications for the simplest software integration.

DIGI-G4 Delivers Industry-Leading Innovations

  • Industry’s first single-chip 4x100G solution for OTN switched line cards
  • Integrated 100G Gearbox for direct connect to CFP2, CFP4 and QSFP28 transceivers
  • Industry’s highest density 10G, 40G and 100G multi-service support, including Ethernet, storage, IP/MPLS and SONET/SDH
  • Industry’s first sub-wavelength OTN encryption solution to secure the cloud
  • Industry’s first 25G granularity flexible framer to DSP interface providing scalable line-rates to match the programmable modulation capabilities found in next-generation Coherent DSPs
  • Multi-chip Interlaken interconnect solutions for scalable compact chassis data center interconnect applications
  • High performance OTN-SDK with adapter layer software accelerates customer time to market

Availability

The PM5990 DIGI-G4 is sampling now. For more information, including whitepapers, video and infographic, visit http://www.pmcs.com/OTN.

Analyst Quotes

“Business cloud computing, video services and social networking applications are driving the need for more data center bandwidth and higher network security,” said Dennis Ward, principal analyst, ACG Research. “Advanced devices, like PMC’s DIGI-G4 will enable a new category of data center interconnect solution to address cloud service providers’ economic, scalability, application delivery and security goals.”

“Just as it did in long haul networks, the introduction of 100G in metro networks is catalyzing demand for OTN switching,” said Andrew Schmitt, principal analyst, Carrier Transport Networking, Infonetics. “PMC continues to deliver the OTN processing building blocks to create the next generation of Packet Optical Transport line card designs, and with features to enable power reduction, design reuse and encryption, PMC is addressing key carrier concerns.”

Photos: http://pmcs.com/news_room/images/PMC_DIGI_G4.jpg

Resources

1 Rise of High-Capacity Data Center Interconnect in Hyper-Scale Service Provider Systems, ACG Research, 2014

2 OTN, MPLS and Control Plane Strategies: Global Service Provider Survey, Infonetics Research, May 2013

About PMC

PMC (Nasdaq:PMCS) is the semiconductor and software solutions innovator transforming networks that connect, move and store big data. Building on a track record of technology leadership, the company is driving innovation across storage, optical and mobile networks. PMC’s highly integrated solutions increase performance and enable next-generation services to accelerate the network transformation. For more information, visit www.pmcs.com. Follow PMC on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and RSS.

© Copyright PMC-Sierra, Inc. 2015. All rights reserved. PMC and PMC-SIERRA are registered trademarks of PMC-Sierra, Inc. in the United States and other countries. PMCS is a trademark of PMC-Sierra, Inc. PMC disclaims any ownership rights in other product and company names mentioned herein. PMC is the corporate brand of PMC-Sierra, Inc.

Contacts

PMC-Sierra, Inc.
Kim Mason, 1-604-415-6239
Manager, Corporate Communications
kim.mason@pmcs.com
or
US Editorial:
Amanda Elfving, +1-303-527-4605
pmcogilvy@ogilvy.com

Release Summary

PMC (Nasdaq:PMCS) introduced the DIGI-G4 OTN processor, delivering the capacity, security and flexibility required for 400G line cards in OTN switched metro networks.

Contacts

PMC-Sierra, Inc.
Kim Mason, 1-604-415-6239
Manager, Corporate Communications
kim.mason@pmcs.com
or
US Editorial:
Amanda Elfving, +1-303-527-4605
pmcogilvy@ogilvy.com