The OIF Turns Focus on OTN

Approves OTN-capable E-NNI Routing 2.0 IA

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) members have approved the External Network-Network Interface (E-NNI) OSPFv2-based (Open Shortest Path First, version 2) Routing – 2.0 (Intra-Carrier) Implementation Agreement. The new IA supports routing for digital connections using ITU-T Optical Transport Networking (OTN) standards and incorporates updates and extensions to the E-NNI Routing 1.0 IA (2007), including:

• formats and encoding for routing of OTN ODUj connections
• Ethernet layer routing information designed for supporting future multilayer control plane integration.
• guidelines for topology abstraction for scalability in carrier deployments.
• extensions supporting inter-domain ASON routing that are a product of joint OIF, ITU-T and IETF efforts.

"The completion of this IA is important to the industry as networks move towards an OTN routing capable control plane," said Remi Theillaud of Marben Products and the OIF’s Networking & Operations Working Group chair. "OIF’s E-NNI Signaling 2.0 and E-NNI Routing 2.0 IAs now provide a complete inter-domain control plane solution for OTN."

Further control plane work on new OTN features is in progress under a separate OIF project titled UNI Signaling and E-NNI Signaling/Routing IA – G.709 edition 3 amendment. This project will update OIF Signaling and Routing IAs to support new OTN features defined in ITU-T G.709 edition 3 and G.709amd2, such as ODUflex and ODUflex hitless resizing.

OIF Day – Membership has its privileges

The OIF recently held "OIF Day at Comcast" as part of a successful series of interactive and educational workshops that feature OIF and member company subject matter experts. OIF and Comcast speakers presented on various topics including OIF projects and directions, multi-domain networking, 100G and beyond. Through these exclusive, member-only events the OIF is directly reaching out to understand carrier challenges and strategies unlike any other industry forum.

"We fully recognize the contributions of the OIF and appreciate the member company SMEs paying full attention to understanding the scale and sophistication requirements to run a fully converged IP/Optical network infrastructure like ours," said Kevin McElearney, Senior Vice President, Network Engineering for Comcast. "Their partnership with us is important as we work to develop a sustainable multi-vendor open network infrastructure."

Second Quarter Meeting Results

OIF members voted to merge the Architecture and Signaling Working Group with the OAM&P Working Group and renamed it the Networking & Operations Working Group to address overlapping technical issues and to allow for more efficient procedures. Remi Theillaud of Marben Products has been elected as the group’s new chair.

The Networking & Operations Working Group will facilitate the development of interoperable networking and operations solutions for dynamic multi-technology transport networks. These solutions will meet the requirements provided by network operators, be grounded in an extensible architecture, support both multi-vendor and multi-carrier interoperability.

Recent re-elections include Rod Smith of TE Connectivity as MA&E Committee co-chair, PLL and Jonathan Sadler of Tellabs as the Technical Committee chair.

About the OIF

Launched in 1998, the OIF is the first industry group to unite representatives from data and optical networking disciplines, including many of the world's leading carriers, component manufacturers and system vendors. The OIF promotes the development and deployment of interoperable networking solutions and services through the creation of Implementation Agreements (IAs) for optical, interconnect, network processing, component and networking systems technologies. The OIF actively supports and extends the work of standards bodies and industry forums with the goal of promoting worldwide compatibility of optical internetworking products. Information on the OIF can be found at http://www.oiforum.com.

CONTACT:

Porchivina & Associates Public Relations
Deborah Porchivina, 415-272-0943
deborah@papr.com

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