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Short Courses

SC243 Next Generation Transport Networks: The Evolution from Circuits to Packets

Monday, February 25, 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Ori Gerstel; Cisco Systems, USA

Level: Advanced Beginner (basic understanding of topic is necessary to follow course material)

Course Description
Transport networking technologies are experiencing one of the most significant evolutionary pressures in recent history. While previous phases in the evolution of the transport layer were driven by operations considerations (SONET/SDH) and bandwidth growth (WDM), the current phase is driven by fundamental shifts in services from circuits to packets. Services like VoIP and VoD have a profound impact on how the network is architected and managed. The challenge is compounded by an order of magnitude increase in bandwidth demands from the end-user and by the large number of unknowns, both from a service type perspective and bandwidth sizing and distribution perspective. As a result, service providers and equipment vendors alike are struggling with the best long term architecture to the new transport layer and with the need for a smooth migration path form their legacy systems to that long term solution.

This course attempts to add clarity to the new requirements for the transport layer and the different technologies that are being considered to address these requirements. The course starts with a review of new services that must be supported by the transport layer, including Metro Ethernet services, storage services, and triple play services (mainly Internet/VOIP/VoD). We then proceed to discuss the current transport technologies, such as legacy IP, Ethernet, SONET/SDH and DWDM, and their drawbacks for the new offered services. Each legacy technology has been extended recently in support of the new demands. In particular Carrier-class IP, MPLS, Metro Ethernet/PBT, Next Gen SONET/SDH, and automated DWDM systems are being considered. We will clarify the innovation and capabilities that make these technologies more appropriate and how they can be combined into effective network architectures.

Benefits and Learning Objectives
This course should enable you to:

Intended Audience
This course is intended for the general OFC audience, including network planners, architects, product line managers, and other professionals as well as researchers working on electrical and optical technologies for the carrier’s transport layer.

Instructor Biography
Ori Gerstel (SM’01) is a senior technical leader in the Core Routing Unit at Cisco. His main role is to define the architecture of IP and Optical networks integration (IPoDWDM). Prior to that Ori was in charge of the advanced technology team in Cisco’s optical group and is the key inventor behind some of the advanced capabilities of Cisco’s DWDM product (MSTP). Before joining Cisco in 2002, he was a senior systems architect for Nortel Networks’ MEMS based photonic crossconnect product. Before joining Xros/Nortel, Ori was the systems and software architect for the Optical Networking Group at Tellabs, where he architected the first commercial mesh DWDM system (TITAN 7100). Previously, he performed early optical networking research at IBM Research. He has authored more than 40 papers in international conferences and journals and over 15 patents on optical networks. He served on the program committee of OFC, INFOCOM and other conferences and has been the technical co-chair of Broadnets and IPoP. He also serves as an editor for several international journals such as JSAC and OSN. He has been an invited speaker at many panels, tutorials and several plenary sessions and has taught several Short Courses at OFC. He holds a Ph.D. degree from the Technion, Israel.