NSN, Juniper eye up IP-Optical partnership

Kit vendor Nokia Siemens Networks and security and infrastructure firm Juniper Networks deepened their relationship  on Tuesday, pooling their respective resources in optical and IP networking.

The two companies will jointly offer an integrated IP-Optical platform, including 10G, 40G and 100G IP over DWDM solutions with management integration and GMPLS control plane interworking.

NSN and Juniper said that the implementation of long-haul DWDM (Dense Wave Division Multiplexing) optics on router line interface cards will increase network efficiency by reducing the need for redundant transponders, but can present network management challenges because IP and optical networks are traditionally managed separately. To address these concerns, NSN and Juniper are offering tools to manage the entire router-to-optical link as a single entity.

The platform will be built on Juniper’s T Series Core Routers, NSN’s hiT7300 WDM kit and managed by its carrier grade Transport Network Management System (TNMS).

Juniper and NSN jumped into bed together earlier this month when they formed a joint venture to address the Carrier Ethernet market. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the venture extends the previously announced partnership designed to deliver a fully interoperable Carrier Ethernet platform for mobile backhaul, business services and residential broadband networks.

The deal includes Juniper’s MX Series Ethernet Services Routers, NSN’s A-series Carrier Ethernet Switches as well as the Finnish firm’s network management system, which NSN claims can reduce OPEX on network administration by as much as 80 per cent.

The new offering should be available to carriers by the fourth quarter of 2009, the companies said.