Glass ceiling of a different sort

RiverDelta extends intelligent optical edge routing As the cable infrastructure flattens, there's a need for more intelligence at the edges of the network.

RiverDelta Networks, moving to distinguish itself as a cutting-edge routing, switching and service management provider, has a plan to meet those optical edge routing intelligence requirements. In addition, the company has unveiled an interface module that lets cable operators connect more than one provider to the optical core network - an important piece of the open access management puzzle.

"As the network continues to flatten out, most of the processing will take place at the edge," said Jeff Walker, RiverDelta's marketing vice president. "Most of the intelligence of looking at traffic - determining voice, data, video, what type of quality of service requirement it has, where it should be sent - needs to be applied at the edge of the network."

RiverDelta believes it is on the front edge of a possible trend.

"There's been a hierarchy of routers," said Gerry White, RiverDelta's chief technical officer. "We're starting to see a trend trying to flatten out that hierarchy and replace that routing with optical switching. In that case, you lose the intelligence that those core routers used to bring."

And when that happens, RiverDelta hopes to address the void with a system that is ahead of its time, said Ian Olgeirson, an analyst with Paul Kagan Associates.

"That capability at some point may be necessary or in demand, but at the same time, we're not seeing that level of optical involvement yet," he said. "It is an interesting look ahead, and certainly [RiverDelta is] pushing that envelope a little."

On the other hand, "I just don't know if the demand is there yet" in current cable strategies, Olgeirson said.

Kinetic Strategies President Michael Harris, was less reserved, although he also wonders when cable operators will acknowledge the need for this type of routing edge intelligence.

"The long-term question is the cable operator's strategy for linking distribution hubs," Harris said. "I think they're starting to think that they need to start deploying optical network infrastructure that has more core network characteristics."

By deploying this infrastructure, RiverDelta hopes to be identified as something more than a cable modem termination system provider.

"These guys are really trying to prove that they're a leading next-gen routing company," Harris said. "They're basically trying to get ahead of that curve and help the cable operators realize the opportunity to build infrastructure ahead of demand."

Walker wants operators to see the future and then take steps to fill its requirements. "Our optical interfaces can tie directly into their optical backbones today but also migrate in the future to more of a dense wave division multiplexing network in the metro," he said. "We provide a solution for today, as well as a migration to a flatter network of the future."

The future of open access, on the other hand, definitely is more imposing. That's where RiverDelta's OC-48 add/drop multiplexer (ADM) card comes into play.

"That allows a cable operator to directly connect to an extremely high-speed optical ring, OC-48 ring and be able to drop into that ring lower-speed optical channels to take advantage of multiplexing within the ring," Walker said.

Historically, vendors have used external ADM to accomplish this. RiverDelta's version is integrated, he said.

"You can give every service provider a dedicated lambda," Harris said. "That's wild when you think about getting dedicated optical connections for each one of these ISPs."

The system's success will depend on how quickly cable networks flatten, "especially MSOs who have this funky amalgam of optical infrastructure - some digital, some analog," Harris said.

Those operators can use this to overlay a metro area network to handle the traffic in a reasonable manner.

"When they make that decision, this kind of solution falls into it pretty nicely," he said.

RiverDelta's system is intended to nudge operators in that direction, White said.