The ability to derive revenue from new services while maintaining and growing revenue from existing data services is critical in today's economic climate. Carriers who can successfully transition their existing Layer 2 services to a common IP/MPLS backbone can gain significant competitive advantages.

Our Layer 2 transport, or "Multiservice over MPLS," solution is the first and only solution that allows service providers to offer both switched and routed services over an IP/MPLS backbone. The solution provides carriers with the technology needed to solve pressing business needs by enabling them to easily move traffic from capacity-constrained ATM and Frame Relay networks onto a common IP/MPLS backbone. Multiservice over MPLS allows carriers to scale current ATM, Frame Relay and Ethernet services while enabling new, revenue-generating services such as Layer 2 VPNs and Ethernet Private Line - all with the same level of bandwidth guarantees and reliability as that found ATM and Frame Relay technology.

Our Multiservice over MPLS solution has been tested in the world's largest multivendor interoperability events and is fully compliant with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Draft Martini working document co-authored by our technical leaders. Draft Martini describes a scalable, cost-effective method for delivering Layer 2 traffic such as ATM, Frame Relay and Ethernet Private Line over an MPLS backbone.

Scalable Layer 2 VPNs

Layer 2 VPNs, commonly used for private data networking, have been available in the market for some time in the form of ATM, Frame Relay and X.25 switched services. All of these services offer security in the form of dedicated connections between customer sites. Prior to the introduction of Multiservice over MPLS, carriers were forced to use different edge devices to create an ATM or Frame Relay service. With Multiservice over MPLS, carriers can cost effectively utilize a common backbone network to offer switched and routed services on the same edge platform, creating thousands of VPNs without any effect on throughput or service quality. Each interface on ECI's Service Edge Routers can be configured for both switched and routed services, allowing the creation of a compelling Layer 2 VPN service portfolio.

Profitable Ethernet Private Line Service

Enterprises have traditionally used Ethernet as the primary method for transporting IP-based traffic over local and metropolitan networks. Ethernet Private Line Service extends Ethernet, a low cost and widely used technology, beyond the reach of local and metropolitan networks to remote sites. By enabling the transmission of Ethernet traffic over an IP/MPLS backbone, Multiservice over MPLS introduces a significant revenue opportunity for carriers while providing simple, fast, reliable connectivity for the enterprise in increments from 10 Mbps to 1 Gbps.

Frame Relay/ATM Interworking

Multiservice over MPLS enables service interworking between Frame Relay and ATM compliant with the Frame Relay Forum Frame Relay/ATM PVC Service Interworking Implementation Agreement (FRF.8.1). Frame Relay/ATM interworking allows customer sites to be connected regardless of access network type.

Any-to-Any Service Interworking

A unique benefit of Multiservice over MPLS is interworking between ATM, Frame Relay and Ethernet services. Much like Frame Relay/ATM interworking, any-to-any service interworking enables customer sites to be connected regardless of access network type - whether ATM, Frame Relay or Ethernet. This functionality is essential when migrating services onto an IP/MPLS backbone.

Sophisticated Quality of Service

To ensure that existing service levels agreements (SLAs) are met, Multiservice over MPLS provides robust QoS and traffic management capabilities for Layer 2 traffic, enabling each customer's traffic to be managed independently with dedicated software-configurable traffic policers, queues and schedulers. Only ECI's solution can precisely match the high levels of QoS previously only associated with traditional ATM and Frame Relay switches.

Unmatched Flexibility

Carrier service delivery needs are constantly evolving, and Multiservice over MPLS provides unprecedented service agility by allowing any type of data service to be offered at any speed over any type of customer access network. This level of flexibility is key to evolving services as requirements change.

Automated Service Management

Provisioning and management of Layer 2 services is dramatically simplified via the ShadeTree Management Suite, a powerful, API-based provisioning and element management system. With Multiservice Provisioning, operators can easily create and manage ATM, Frame Relay and Ethernet Private Line services, dramatically reducing the time required to provision new services while preventing costly configuration errors. To provision services, operators simply select an interface, service type and class, and then assign a service name.

Complete Layer 2 Service Mode Support

ECI's Multiservice over MPLS solution supports a wide range of Layer 2 service modes, including:

ATM
· ATM virtual channel connection (VCC) and virtual path connection (VPC) cell relay modes
· ATM adaptation layer 5 (AAL5) VCC mode
· Transparent port mode
· VCC cell concatenation

Frame Relay
· Frame Relay permanent virtual circuit (PVC) and port modes
· Frame Relay/ATM PVC Service Interworking Implementation Agreement (FRF.8.1)
· High-speed Frame Relay on T1/E1, DS-3, OC-3/STM-1, OC-12/STM-4 and OC-48/STM-16 interfaces

Ethernet
· Ethernet port mode
· 802.1q VLANs

High-level Data Link Control
· High-level Data Link Control (HDLC) mode

IP Layer 2 Transport
· ARP Mediation for IP Interworking of Layer 2 VPN (draft-shah-ppvpn-arp-mediation-01.txt)

Comprehensive Encapsulation Support

Multiservice over MPLS supports a wide variety of encapsulations, including:

· Packet over SONET/SDH (POS) - RFC 2615
· Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) - RFC 1661
· Frame Relay
· Multiprotocol over Frame Relay - RFC 1490
· Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)
· Multiprotocol Encapsulation over ATM Adaptation Layer 5 - RFC 2684
· High-level Data Link Control (HDLC) - RFC 1662
· Ethernet with 802.1Q VLAN - IEEE 802.1Q
· X.86 Ethernet over SONET - ITU-T X.86
· MPLS - RFC 2547bis, RFC 2702, RFC 3031, RFC 3032, draft-martini-l2circuit-encap-mpls-04, draft-martinil2circuit-trans-mpls-08

Conclusion

To ensure profitability today and in the future, carriers must be able to derive revenue from new services while maintaining and growing revenue from existing data services. ECI's unique Multiservice over MPLS solution enables service providers to offer new, revenue-generating services such as Layer 2 VPNs and Ethernet Private Line over a lower cost infrastructure without sacrificing current revenue streams from existing ATM and Frame Relay services.