Marconi MPLS expert to discuss quality of service issues required for network convergence

Marconi Corporation plc announced today that one of its networking experts will discuss how service providers, and businesses that operate large networks, can effectively interconnect, or converge, their existing networks with newer networking technologies, thereby creating opportunities for new revenues and supporting new applications, while achieving operating efficiencies.

Daniel Proch, a principal engineer in the office of the chief technology officer for Marconi`s Broadband Routing & Switching group, will present his discussion at the MPLS World Congress, from 11 to 13 February in Paris. Proch`s talk is scheduled for Thursday, 12 February at 10am. Marconi is exhibiting in Booth 112 and, with its BXR-48000, participating in the MPLS & Frame Relay Alliance`s interoperability demonstration.

Operators or businesses with Internet Protocol (IP), Frame Relay (FR) and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networks are investigating how Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) can serve as a convergence technology to help them save on operating expenses and support the roll-out of new IP-based revenue-generating services. For large businesses, convergence can help deliver new applications that support more efficient business practices for their employees. But convergence can occur in a variety of ways, some of which are actually counter to the goals of achieving more efficient network architectures or growing revenues.

"Network architects considering convergence should carefully review the alternatives or they might find themselves with yet another overlay network that really doesn`t yield either the cost-savings or performance improvements they anticipated," Proch said. "While MPLS is the current darling of next-generation multiservice network architectures, there are many unresolved issues in deploying carrier-grade networks, especially in the areas of service interworking and operations management."

The convergence of older or legacy computer networks, often employing data transport protocols such as ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) and Frame Relay with newer transport protocols such as MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) has been the goal of service providers and large businesses for some time. Network convergence, handled correctly, allows service providers to lower their capital and operating costs by reducing the number of networks they operate and maintain.

Convergence also opens the door to new revenue opportunities from an emerging range of new IP services, such as voice over IP (VOIP), IP-based Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and video on demand. Evolutionary convergence is now possible due to the development of new products - such as Marconi`s BXR-48000, which supports both ATM and IP/MPLS with unequalled high performance - and increasing agreement about industry standards for ATM to MPLS internetworking, which Proch also will address.

Marconi`s BXR-48000, an industry-leading 480Gigabit / second multiservice router (960Gbps half-duplex), will be participating in an interoperability event at the MPLS World Congress organised by the MPLS & Frame Relay Alliance. Alliance members will demonstrate the ability to offer service level agreements (SLAs) for real-time carrier services such as voice and video over Layer 2 VPLS and Layer 3 MPLS VPNs. The event will be the first public demonstration of multi-vendor interoperability of MPLS Differentiated Services (MPLS Diffserv) to provide traffic engineering (TE) and MPLS-based quality of service (QoS) over a multi-vendor MPLS backbone, one of the key requirements for supporting SLAs in the delivery of services over an MPLS core.