OC-48 Chipset Enables Next Generation Network Deployment

The CHESS (Channelizer Engine for SONET/SDH) chipset is claimed to be the industry's first and only chipset architecture to allow IP routing, ATM/frame relay switching, SONET/SDH digital cross connect/add-drop multiplexing, and dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) transport functionality to be built in a single hardware platform. The chipset is said to replace as many as five or six older, discrete network equipment elements. Carriers and ISPs will be able to provide a greater number of services at a lower cost.
The devices have SONET/SDH framing capability at each of the OC-3, OC-12 and OC-48 optical line rates. The STS-1 grooming capability of the chipset allows for sub-lambda wavelength processing so that multiple-user services can be run over individual 2.5-Gb/s lambda wavelengths.
Five devices make up the set: the SPECTRA-2488 framer/channelizer, SPECTRA-4x155 framer/channelizer, TelecomBus Serializer, Transmission Switch Element, and the S/UNI-MACH48 processor/mapper. Prices range from $99 to $499 in volume.