Calix ups speeds on Ethernet access gear

Broadband access equipment vendor Calix unveiled a pair of new Ethernet access platforms aimed at service providers ready to pursue ambitious upgrades with high ceilings to accommodate tomorrow's bandwidth explosions.

The new Calix E7-20 multi-terabit Ethernet Service Access Platform (ESAP) is a 2 Tb/s access concentrator targeted at handling the robust video traffic growth that increasingly defines fiber network planning needs for both residential and business market segments. It can deliver up to 100 Gb/s to each of 20 line cards, supporting 10 Gigabit Ethernet transport and GPON, Active Ethernet and point-to-point Gigabit Ethernet on the customer side, and service scenarios for 10G GPON, 10 Gb/s Ethernet (10GE) and 100 Gb/s Ethernet uplinks.

The new ESAP follows the release earlier this year of the more modular E7-2 ESAP, aimed at deployments for less dense markets where carriers want to pursue the more cautious pay-as-you-grow types of upgrades, according to Geoff Burke, senior director of corporate marketing at Calix. “The E7-20’s got enormous headroom for bandwidth growth, but there is no reason the E7-20 and E7-2 wouldn’t be deployed in the same networks,” he said. “The deployment decision would be determined by your intentions for that market, what your network topology already is there.”

The E7-20 likely would be in more dense markets where service providers see certain subscriber and bandwidth growth, while the E7-2 might be targeted at a new market expansion project where uptake is less certain and initial subscribership less dense.

The E7-20 can serve up to 480 dedicated AE subscribers or 5,120 GPON subscribers for now, with future higher density line card upgrades in the works. The system will go into carrier trials early next year and will be generally available by mid-year.

Calix also unwrapped the E3-48 sealed Ethernet Service Access Node (ESAN), which might appeal more to service providers pursuing incremental upgrades that leverage existing copper. The sealed aspect gives it the low profile and compact nature to be deployed in places such as telephone poles as part of broadband networks where fiber doesn’t go all the way to the customer premises.

The fiber-fed E3-48 supports VDSL2 services at the remote node for up to 48 subscribers. It also has ADSL2+ fallback, and can support bonding across VDSL2 and ADSL for future bandwidth flexibility.

The new platforms will appear in the Calix booth at this week’s TelcoTV Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.