Calix revs access platform with VDSL2, Ethernet

Calix today debuted five new line cards – boosting the total number of distinct cards available to 47 – for its C7 Multi-Service Access Platform, providing tier two and three telcos with new options for boosting speeds for residential video and business data services while making it easier to converge those services and more in a multi-service environment.

The new line cards can be mixed and matched with existing services on the same C7 chassis, and are highlighted by 10 Gig Ethernet, Ethernet gateway, VDSL2 and GPON services that provide carriers facing a bandwidth crunch much-needed throughput while allowing them to gradually move more and more services onto an Ethernet backplane – a key industry trend that helps cut costs and boost provisioning flexibility, said Geoff Burke, senior director of corporate marketing for Calix.

Targeting its core market of U.S.-based tier telcos – but with new capabilities that should appeal to its cable and CLEC customer as well – the updated C7 platform capabilities lets carriers “build off of current services but evolve to an all IP services over Ethernet and fiber world,” said Burke. “We see all our customers moving with a clear purpose down that evolution path.”

Some of the most notable additions to the C7, including VDSL2 and improved Ethernet support, aren’t exactly new to the access market, said IDC analyst Matt Davis. But by taking a measured approach, Calix was able to ensure key standards were fully baked and backward compatibility were resolved – particularly with VDSL2 – making the timing of the upgrades appropriate for most operators.

“I think the story really here is for carriers to be able to amortize their initial C7 investments and upgrade it with line cards rather than a fork lift,” Davis said. “It’s not a ‘god box,’ the fastest thing on the market – it’s more of an operational excellence story.”

Calix competes most directly with fellow multi-service access platform vendors like Adtran and Occam Networks for the long-tail of the U.S. carrier market, a sector that has increasingly sophisticated requirements to deliver not only video to the home – over fiber or high-speed copper -- but Ethernet for businesses services and mobile backhaul as well.

The new C7 line cards run on the vendor’s Ethernet eXtensible Architecture (EXA), an Ethernet kernel it says is based on industry standard protocols and focused specifically on the requirements of the telco access network. The cards also share a common software core with other Calix E-Series platforms, including its E7 Ethernet service access platform. The new line cards can be mixed and matched with existing C7 cards, making it easier for carriers to add new services or migrate its overall access network to higher speeds or newer technologies.

The new line cards include:

- The RAP-10GE, which forms the core of the EXA Powered C7, operating as the common control unit for the C7 and delivering carrier-grade, ERPS ring protected 10 Gbps and 1 Gbps transport interfaces, full Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) service assurance and compliance, as well as a 150 Gbps switching fabric.

- Two VDSL cards, the COMBO2-24V and VDSL2-24, for delivering high density VDSL2 services, including seamless fallback to ADSL2+, Annex M, and bonding support.

-The Ethernet Gateway (EGW), which acts as a gateway for the existing base of C7 multiprotocol line cards, allowing existing cards to leverage the Ethernet transport infrastructure of the EXA Powered C7.

- The OLTG-4E, which delivers up to four GPON ports per card, supporting any mix of standard or Extended Reach GPON optical interface modules.

The new cards deliver “a dramatic increase in capacity across the platform, a tripling of capacity overall, and introduces a pure Ethernet architecture into the C7 itself, enabling a whole slew of new services the C7 has not historically had at its disposal,” said Calix’ Burke.

Those new services are important, but so is the operational efficiency of moving from a world of digital cross-connects to Ethernet and VLANs, Burke said, “taking service provisioning that historically took hours and turning it into seconds. Operationally, the Ethernet gateway card in particular lets customers from an evolutionary perspective have one foot sitting in legacy services and another foot planted firmly in the 10 gig Ethernet world, all in the same chassis and on the same platform.”

The new Calix 7 line cards can be ordered now and deployed in carrier networks, Calix said. The vendor claims deployments of the C7 at more than 500 service providers representing more than 32 million subscriber lines.

In addition to those line cards, Calix today introduced six new residential ONTs. The new 700GE ONT family builds on the vendor’s 700GX ONT family by introducing two or four gigabit Ethernet ports on each 700GE ONT. Each access port on the new GE ONT’s can deliver a full 1 Gbps of bandwidth in both upstream and downstream directions and support multiple services and virtual local area network (VLAN) connections.