Ekinops Demonstrates SDN Interoperability

Ekinops, a leading supplier of next-generation optical transport equipment, has demonstrated the interoperability of its DWDM optical transport solutions with an open source Software Defined Networking (SDN) controller.

Ekinops announced today that its Ekinops 360 DWDM (dense wavelength division multiplexing) system proved that it interoperates with the ONOS project's Open Source SDN Network Operating System. The interoperability demonstration was conducted in collaboration with b<>com, the French Institute of Research and Technology, which has strong expertise in new technologies applied to network management, particularly SDN.

For the live demonstration, Ekinops and b<>com worked together to design and develop an interface layer between the SDN controller and the Ekinops 360 platform's network management protocols.

The interoperability assessment was done on a mesh network consisting of several Ekinops 360 Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer (ROADM) nodes. To perform this live demonstration, 100 gigabit per second wavelength routes were created via the ONOS controller and automatically routed within the mesh network.

"The interoperability experiment was extremely successful," said Francois X. Ollivier, Ekinops' Chief Technical Officer. "In light of the increasing interest in SDN, this demonstrates Ekinops' commitment to offering service providers DWDM Layer 1 solutions that are proven to be SDN-aware.

"These solutions, whether 100G or higher, are readily managed through our management software, enabling NFV (network functions virtualization) application to configure the physical transport on optical fiber networks."

"The evolution of 5G networks requires more flexibility and autonomy in their operation. It is based on SDN and NFV concepts. The interface layer developed with Ekinops fully meets those promises," said Michel Corriou, Director of Domain Networks & Security at b<>com.

About b<>com

With its innovations, the Institute of Research and Technology (IRT) b<>com is taking part in the European digital transformation. Its 200 researchers develop tools, products, and services that make everyday life easier. They focus on two fields of research: Hypermedia (ultra-high definition images, 3D sound, smart content, virtual and augmented reality) and more agile ultra-high speed networks (cloud, cybersecurity, ultra-high speed mobile, network resilience, Internet of Things). Of the many fields of application for these technologies, e-health has allowed b<>com to participate in the digital revolution going on in medicine. Founded through a public/private partnership, the IRT gathers the best experts from industry and academia at its campus in Rennes, and at its sites in Lannion and Brest. Since its creation in 2012, the IRT has grown 30% a year. www.b-com.com

About Ekinops

Ekinops is a leading supplier of next generation optical transport equipment for telecommunications service providers. The Ekinops 360 addresses Metro, Regional, and Long-Haul applications with a single, highly-integrated platform. Ekinops is a market-leading innovator in 100G transport with a coherent line of products that truly optimizes optical networks and comes in 1RU, 2RU or 7RU chassis. The Ekinops 360 relies on the highly-programmable Ekinops T-Chip® (Transport-on-a-Chip) architecture that enables fast, flexible and cost-effective delivery of new services for high-speed, high-capacity transport. Using the Ekinops 360 carrier-grade system, operators can simply increase capacity of their networks – CWDM, DWDM, Ethernet, ESCON, Fibre Channel, SONET/SDH, and uncompressed video (HD-SDI, SD-SDI, ASI). Ekinops is headquartered in Lannion, France, and Ekinops Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary, is incorporated in the USA. For more information, visit www.ekinops.net.

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