Oki Launches IPGW® Series RPR Switch, Using the World's Advanced Technology in Optical Networks
- Starts Shipments to the Japanese and Chinese Markets -

"This RPR switch can benefit customers, such as telecom carriers and governments that own optical fibers, to construct highly-reliable optical networks at low costs," said Kazushige Matsui, Executive Officer and President of the System Solutions Company at Oki Electric. "We plan to deploy this RPR switch to self-operating optical network vendors in Japan as well as overseas, particularly towards China where the infrastructure is rapidly progressing."

RPR switch utilizes the reliability of the fault-resilience in SDH/SONET multiplex equipment^*1, used in conventional network equipment. The switch is based on Ethernet technology and succeeds in enabling a low cost, small size switch. It also responds to IP multicast technology so that it can distribute images economically to multiple locations. When looking at a picture from several locations in the conventional unicast method, lines for each location were necessary. However, with the IP multicast technology, traffic for the one picture diverges and is distributed to multiple locations, which eases traffic congestion and more efficiently uses the network.

With the RPR, users can establish a highly reliable self-operating optical network at a low cost, which will be deployed to vendors around the world with self-operating optical network. Oki also plans to shortly provide a product using RPR technology^*2 that has outstanding cost performance features and management functions including fault-resilient solutions, which is challenging in conventional Ethernet switches. Furthermore, it ensures QoS (Quality of Service)^*3, including the ability to guaranteeing bandwidth.

[Sales Plan]

[Main Features]

1. Highly-reliable
   Since the optical fiber is spread into ring forms, when optical fiber disconnects or equipment faults occur, the RPR switch can connect to an alternate transmission line within 50m seconds.
2. Full utilization of bandwidth
   RPR switch provides the three traffic class; low delay guaranteed rate; bounded delay committed rate; and best-effort at the Media Access Control (MAC) layer through queuing and shaping. The dedicated packet reports traffic conditions and automatically conducts fairness control in the restraint bandwidth.
3. IP multicasting technology
   By responding to IP multicasting technology, the RPR switch can send identical content packets in divergence, depending on request, from one sending node to several receiving nodes. This enables the switch to send to multiple receiving nodes without running unnecessary IP images over the network.
4. Environment resistant and small size
   The operating temperature range is from -10°C to 70°C with a compact size of 162mm(D) x 39mm(W) x 200mm(H).

[Glossary]

*1 SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy)/SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) multiplex equipment

A transmission equipment based on time division multiple technology used by conventional telecom vendors.

*2 RPR (Resilient Packet Ring) technology

An optical packet ring technology under promotion for standardization within the IEEE802.17 working group.

*3 QoS (Quality of Service)

A technology to ensure bandwidth and enable priority control in order to guarantee communication service quality over the network.

About Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
Founded more than a century ago in 1881, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. is Japan's first telecommunications manufacturer, with its headquarter in Tokyo, Japan. With the corporate vision, "Oki, Network Solutions for a Global Society," Oki Electric provides top-quality products, technologies and solutions to its customers through its telecommunications systems, information systems and electronic devices segments. All three segments are integrated into one effective organization that functions as a collective force to create exciting new products and technologies, including information and telecom converged solutions. Through its business activities, Oki Electric satisfies a spectrum of customer needs in various markets. Details of Oki's IPGW Series RPR Switch can be found at http://www.oki.com/jp/SSC/ITS/eng/ipgwrpr.html.

Notes:

• IPGW is a registered trademark of Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. in Japan.
• Names of companies and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies.