G.8032 is Spot on for Carrier Ethernet

There are a number of things that service providers like about SONET/SDH.  They like the 50ms protection switching, deterministic performance even when the ring is fully loaded and five-9’s availability.  While using intelligent Ethernet edge devices with SONET/SDH interfaces is a smart way to leverage existing infrastructure, providers should be considering native Carrier Ethernet solutions for new green-field networks.

The applications for enterprise and mobile backhaul have become data dominant - with the majority of the bandwidth consumed by Ethernet or IP services.  While SONET/SDH networks can transport Ethernet over SONET/SDH, there is a price to pay - two to three times more CAPEX than a native Carrier Ethernet solution.  Also, in the fast evolving space of flow level service management and Ethernet service OAM, many SONET/SDH ADMs that support basic ‘fat pipe’ transport simply cannot provide the features required.

ITU-T G.8032 is knocking down the last barrier to moving to Carrier Ethernet infrastructure.  G.8032 is the standard for supporting multiple nodes on an Ethernet ring with 50ms protection switching.  Carriers like that the system with 16 nodes and 1200km of fiber switches in less than 50ms, just like SONET/SDH.  While there have been other attempts to enable multi-node rings, G.8032 is the first that does this without compromises - deterministic protection performance under all loading conditions, no complicated control plane and no proprietary technology.

G.8032 solves the protection switching, but what about five 9’s availability?  Innovative service providers are selecting Carrier Ethernet solutions which have been purpose built to deliver 99.999% availability just like SONET/SDH systems.  So while SONET/SDH that is already deployed will remain in place for years, G.8032 is enabling market leading service providers to quickly transition to Carrier Ethernet going forward.