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The 7950 XRS family - based on the FP3 400G chipset – brings a huge boost
in capacity, efficiency and flexibility to the heart of the Internet, while
slashing power consumption and total cost of ownership
Santa Clara, California, May 22, 2012 - Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext and
NYSE: ALU) today unveiled a new family of Internet core routers designed to
address the major shifts that are happening in global networks. The 7950 XRS (Extensible
Routing System) allows network operators to embrace the rapid adoption of
‘cloud’ applications, the explosion in video traffic and the widespread use of
smartphones and tablets and prepare the core of their networks for the next
decade of growth.
Shattering performance barriers
Representing a new generation of core IP routers, the 7950 XRS is based on a
compact, highly efficient system design that is built with the future in mind.
The flagship of the family, the 7950 XRS-40, supports 32 terabits per second
(Tbps) capacity and 160 100Gigabit Ethernet ports in a single system, which is
five times the density of today’s core routers. Using the latest techniques in
silicon and system design, the 7950 XRS also slashes power consumption by more
than 66 percent compared to typical core routers.
With 100 gigabit
per second (100G) links increasingly serving as the foundation of IP
transport networks - and with 400G and Terabit (1000G) links on the horizon -
the 7950 XRS accelerates and simplifies core network evolution, helping service
providers more easily respond to customer demand. This unprecedented
combination of capacity, efficiency and scale can significantly improve the
economics of operating and expanding core IP networks.
Basil Alwan, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s IP Division, said: “With the
7950 XRS we are revolutionizing the network core, just as we did over the past
ten years at the network edge with service routing. Core networks are evolving
at an unbelievable pace, with IP backbones and ‘metro’ cores facing a host of
new requirements.”
Unparalleled feature/flexibility for the ‘New Core’
Traditional core routers have lacked performance and 100GE density, while
recent alternatives have compromised on features and flexibility in an attempt
to improve performance and density. Using the Alcatel-Lucent designed
FP3 network processor unit (NPU) - the industry’s first and only 400G NPU -
the 7950 XRS eliminates this tradeoff between capacity and capability. The 7950
XRS has the versatility to support the distinct requirements of both IP
backbone networks, which move vast amounts of Internet content around the
world, and regional ‘metro’ core networks, where content is increasingly
distributed for fast, efficient delivery to consumers and businesses.
“The core router platform of the future needs to be able to efficiently
deliver enormous capacity, and do so without sacrificing the intelligence and
capabilities needed to support an expanding variety of content and
applications. With the 7950 XRS family, service providers need not compromise
on any of these dimensions,” Alwan added.
The 7950 XRS also extends Alcatel-Lucent’s commitment to tighter integration
between IP networks and optical transport networks. This includes support for
transponder integration into the 7950 XRS at 10G, 40G and 100G speeds,
efficient grooming of traffic from the IP layer into the optical transport
network, common management with the industry-leading
5620 Service Aware Manager (SAM) platform and an Optical Extension Shelf
capability that integrates the
1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) with the 7950 XRS.
Built to last
The 7950 XRS is designed to be easily expanded and upgraded to meet evolving
demands. All aspects of system design have been optimized to ensure in-network
scalability and non-stop operation. Every component of the platform design is
modular, from power to cooling to all active components, making the system
simple to maintain and upgrade. The 7950 XRS backplane and optical interconnect
are designed to handle slot capacities of 2 Tbps, multi-chassis clustering that
enables the system to scale up to 240 Tbps in the future, as well as support
400GE and 1 Terabit interfaces as they become available. The 7950 XRS also
inherits the robust and reliable Service Router Operating System (SR OS) that
already supports residential, business and mobile broadband traffic in more
than 450 service provider networks worldwide.
Strong Industry Support:
“Verizon is experiencing tremendous growth in metro Ethernet services.
Platforms such as the Alcatel-Lucent 7950 XRS will help us efficiently scale to
support higher speeds and new capabilities while offering efficiency and
flexibility,” said Ihab Tarazi, Vice President of Global IP and Transport
Planning and Technology, Verizon. “We applaud Alcatel-Lucent for its bold
approach to router value and performance.”
“The success of our broadband services worldwide is resulting in rapid
traffic growth in our IP network. As we carry more traffic, we have to improve
the power and space efficiency of our network infrastructure” said Fumio Ito,
Vice President Network Services Technology of NTT Communications. “We are
pleased to see innovation from Alcatel-Lucent that brings enhancements to the
IP network in terms that might be able to address our operational challenges
and costs.”
“BT is constantly improving our network to deliver new and better broadband
services to our consumer and business customers” said Karl Penaluna, President,
BT Global Networks and Systems. “We’ve been using Alcatel-Lucent’s
7750 Service Router for many years as part of the rollout of the 21CN
program across the UK. As we deal with increasing traffic volumes and deliver
the growth in cloud services from our data centers, we’ll need platforms for
our national and metro core networks that scale to 100Gigabit links and beyond.
We’re also constantly seeking to reduce our physical footprint and power per
bit, so we’re very encouraged to see Alcatel-Lucent meeting these challenges
with the 7950 XRS.”
“Service providers face a serious problem as they tackle 100G, the next
great inflection point in their routing, switching and optical networks. If
they keep adding more of the same equipment to their networks, they will end up
multiplying space and power requirements” said Michael Howard, Principal
Analyst & Co-Founder, Infonetics Research. “Alcatel-Lucent’s new 7950 XRS
core router platform appears to address the scaling of core networks without
growing both soft and hard operating costs. We expect that service providers
will also see direct benefits of the versatility of the 7950 XRS in
core/metro/datacenter interconnect networks and include it in their decision
process mix as they evaluate how to scale their 100G infrastructure.”
7950 XRS - Technical Capabilities
- The 7950 XRS family consists of three routers:
- 7950 XRS-40 supports 32 Tbps of routing capacity, capable of supporting 160
100GE interfaces in a single core router – the best in the industry. It is
designed to accommodate up to 2 terabits per slot and is upgradeable to
multi-chassis configurations to ensure continued growth as needed. It will be
available in the first half of 2013.
- 7950 XRS-20 is a 16 Tbps core router that can deliver 80 100GE interfaces
in a single rack (5x more than the current norm). It can be upgraded to 7950
XRS-40 and/or multi-chassis configurations as demand requires, and is designed
to accommodate up to 2 terabits per slot. It will be available in the third
quarter of 2012 and is currently in several trials.
- 7950 XRS-16c is a 6.4 Tbps core router, ideal for meeting core routing
requirements of smaller points of presence (POPs)/nodes with maximum agility.
It delivers up to 32 100GE interfaces and is designed to accommodate 1 terabit
per slot. It will be available in the first half of 2013.
- Supports a comprehensive set of IPv4 and IPv6 routing, MPLS switching and
infrastructure services in a single platform.
- Common operating system (SR OS) across the Alcatel-Lucent router portfolio
- a highly available, feature-rich and field-proven software infrastructure
that is trusted by more than 450 service providers worldwide.
- Common network management system – the 5620 SAM – offering seamless support
across the 7950 XRS family, the service router portfolio and the 1830 PSS
optical transport family.
7950 XRS and the High Leverage Network
Alcatel-Lucent’s vision of the High Leverage Network™ (HLN) is
focused on addressing the exploding demand for broadband capacity and services,
making it easier for service providers to be able to capitalize on the new
demands of an always-on world.
The introduction of the 7950 XRS family is another critical milestone toward
bringing this vision to life, enabling service providers to dramatically
increase network capacity and flexibility, while keeping costs and power
consumption in check.
To learn more:
Join the live webcast on May 22 at 9:15 AM PT/12:15 PM ET/6:15 PM
CET:  http://www.media-server.com/m/p/794x623o.
To view the webcast replay visit: http://www.media-server.com/m/p/794x623o.
Read the newest Alcatel-Lucent TechZine feature:
Building a Core Router for the Next Decade
Watch the 7950 XRS video on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l5A3sLbLBM
Press kits are also available at www.alcatel-lucent.com/events/2012/annual-technology-symposium/
Product and executive photos can be downloaded at http://www.flickr.com/photos/alcatel-lucent/
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