DAI Perspective, Edition 45: High Performance Routers and Multiservice Switches for Public Networks

This study is a comprehensive 825-page report focusing on the technology and market forecast of high performance routers and multiservice switches. The report includes a detailed technical description of the currently available ATM / IP / MPLS routers and switches, along with cost-based price forecast for these products through the year 2008. Other topics covered in this study include:

• Major market trends affecting carrier network architectures
• Advanced broadband services networks and high-speed broadband access technologies
• Internet traffic forecast
• Carrier core and mid-range router / multiservice WAN switch market analysis and forecast
• Major market drivers of ATM / IP/ MPLS technology
• Short-term / long-term growth forecast of ATM, IP, and MPLS in public networks
• Architecture trends of the IP / ATM backbone
• Trends in high performance packet switching technology
• Comparative evaluation of high performance ATM / IP / MPLS switches and routers currently available
• Conclusions and recommendations for each type of Service Provider and for equipment vendors

In addition, the report provides case studies of twenty early adapters’ experience with ATM / IP /MPLS high performance switches and routers, as well as an extensive installed base and on order analyses of all public telecom carriers worldwide employing these equipment, sorted by country, operator, vendor, switch or router model, application, and number of units installed and on order.

BENEFITS FOR TELECOM SERVICE PROVIDERS

• AVOID COSTLY MISTAKES
  With 20 Case Studies - Learn
  - Problems Encountered - Benefits Achieved

• PLAN MOST EFFECTIVE STRATEGY FOR NETWORK ARCHITECTURE AND CONFIGURATION
  With Detailed Technology Forecasts - Learn
  - Future Evolution & How to Plan for It

• EASILY & QUICKLY EVALUATE & COMPARE ALL WORLD-CLASS VENDORS’ PRODUCTS
  - Objective and Unbiased review of Products
  - Understand which vendors have success
  - Easy to read & compare tech spec for all products

• PREPARE ACCURATE BUDGET PROJECTIONS
  With Detailed Cost Based Price Forecasts

• EXPLOIT THE EXPERIENCE & EXPERTISE OF OUR 35 YEARS EXPERIENCE AS LEADING CONSULTANTS TO THE INDUSTRY!

• UNDERSTAND & MEET MARKET DEMAND
• With DAI’s Internet Traffic and Market Forecasts, Know Future Needs of Customers

• UNPARALLELED MARKET FORECASTS & ANALYSIS
  Obtain Objective Forecasts on
  Pricing, Market and Market Shares, as well as
  Switch / Router Technology Evolution.

• UNDERSTAND USERS EXPERIENCE
  Learn How Carriers have Evaluated Their
  High-Performance Switch / Router Experience To-Date.

• IDENTIFY POTENTIAL PROSPECTS & MARKETS
  With the Installed Base — Learn Who has
  Switches / Routers that are Susceptible to Replacement Soon.

• IDENTIFY BUYERS’ MOTIVATIONS
  High-End Routers
  Mid- Range Routers
  Multi-Service WAN Switches
  Learn Who is Really Buying These Products & Why

• UNDERSTAND, EVALUATE & COMPARE COMPETITORS
  With Easy-to-Read and Compare Format
  DAI Detailed Technical Specifications

• Internet
• Data Traffic
• New Platforms

• Backbone Networks .Local Loop
• Edge Networks .ISP Networks

• xDSL
• Cable
• Fixed Wireless
• Satellite
• FTTx
• Gigabit Ethernet

- Facilities
- How it Works
- Types Available
- Benefits & Advantages

• Content Distribution Approaches
• Web & Application Hosting
• Streaming Media
• Storage Area Networking
• VPN

• Traditional Routing and Packet Switching
• Major Market Drivers
• Standards Groups
• Short Term & Long Term Growth Forecast

• Management Problems with Self Routing
• QoS & Traffic Engineering Needs
• Transport Approaches
  - SONET
  - ATM
  - IP
• Routers vs. Switches in the IP Backbone
• Forecasts of Network Architecture

• ATM Switches
• IP Routers
• Potential Impact of Optical Switching Technology on ATM Switches & Routers
• MPLS, MPOA & Related Schemes
• Status & Trends Gigabit Ethernet Transport & Switching
• Comparing MPLS with MPOA

• Based on peak hr. avg. bandwidth application for:
  - USA
  - Rest of the World
• Based on Dr. Robert’s Growth Prediction
• Internet Backbone traffic capacity
• Internet core revenues
• OC- 192 Interfaces shipped

• Current market analysis by vendor
• World Market Forecast by units and US$ to 2008

• Current market analysis by vendor
• World Market Forecast by units and US$ to 2008

• Current market analysis by vendor
• Market Forecast by units and $dollars to 2008

• Port Modules for AMT Switches & IP Routers
• Common Control Subsystem
• Switches:
  - Small ATM Backbone Switch
  - Large ATM Backbone Switch
  - ATM Edge Switch
• Routers:
  - Small Backbone router
  - Large Backbone Router
  - Edge Router
• Typical Switching Network

• Every country of the world
• High Performance Routers
• ATM/ IP/ MPLS Switches

• Country
• Region
• Operator
• Vendor

• Company Profile
• Systems & Suppliers Utilized
  - Supplier & Product Description
  - Network Architecture
  - Comparison to Previous Method
  - Anticipated Benefits/ Payback Periods
• Implementation Problems Encountered
• Benefits Achieved
• Advice to Others & Lessons Learned

• Company Profile
• Product Overview and Pricing
• System component Description
• Technical Speciation in a common format

• High- End Routers
• Mid- Range Routers
• Multi- Service WAN Switches

• Global Conclusions
• Technical Summary and Conclusions
• Action Recommendations for:
  - Global
  - Vendors
  - Telecom Service Providers (5 Major Classes)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A. INTRODUCTION TO EDITION 45

B. ORGANIZATION AND SCOPE OF REPORT

C. PLANS FOR FUTURE UPDATES IN THE DAI PERSPECTIVE SERIES

D. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. TERABIT SERVICES & SERVICE EVOLUTION

A. MAJOR MARKET TRENDS AFFECTING CARRIER NETWORK ARCHITECTURES

1) Internet Growth

2) Data Traffic Explosion

3) Today’s IP Networks

4) Introduction of New More Powerful Network Platforms

B. OVERVIEW OF ADVANCED BROADBAND SERVICES NETWORKS

1) Backbone Networks

2) Edge Networks

3) PoPs

4) Last Mile (or Local Loop)

5) ISP Networks

C. HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES

1) xDSL

2) Cable

3) Advantages and Disadvantages of DSL and Cable Modems

4) Fixed Wireless

5) Satellite

6) FTTx (X being Cabinet, Building, Business, Home or Curb)

7) Gigabit Ethernet

D. BANDWIDTH HUNGRY APPLICATIONS

1) Content Distribution Approaches

2) Streaming Media

3) Web Hosting / Application Hosting

4) Storage Area Networking

5) VPN

E. CONCLUSION

2. ADVANCED TERABIT MARKET AND FORECAST

A. MAJOR MARKET DRIVERS

1) Bandwidth Demand

2) Bandwidth Growth but No Constraints Seen Through 2010

B. INTERNET TRAFFIC FORECAST

1) Internet Traffic Forecast (Based on Peak-Hour Average Bandwidth per Application)

2) Internet Traffic Forecast (Based on Average Online Hold-Time Approach)

3) Internet Traffic Growth Forecast (Based on Dr. Roberts’ Internet Traffic Growth Prediction)

4) Outline of Forecast Results

C. CURRENT (YE2001) CARRIER SWITCH ROUTER MARKET ANALYSIS AND FORECAST

1) Sources Used in Our Analysis of Current High-End Router / Switch Markets

2) Rationale for Our Current Market Sizing

3) High-End Router Carrier Market Analysis (OC-192 and OC-48 Capable)

4) Mid-Range Router Carrier Market Analysis and Forecast (OC-12 and Below)

5) Multiservice WAN Switch Router Carrier Market Analysis

D. DITTBERNER ASSOCIATES CONSENSUS FORECAST OF INTERNET TRAFFIC GROWTH AND TOTAL CARRIER SWITCH / ROUTER SPENDING

1) DAI Consensus Forecast of Worldwide Backbone Capacity in Tbps

2) DAI Consensus Forecast of Worldwide Carrier Core Router Market

3) DAI Forecast of Worldwide Carrier Mid-Range Router Market

4) DAI Consensus Forecast of Worldwide Multiservice WAN Carrier Switch Market

3. ATM / IP / MPLS TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

A. TRADITIONAL ROUTING AND PACKET SWITCHING

1) Router Evolution

2) Increased Throughput

3) The Concept of Virtual Routing

4) The Concept of Dynamic Virtual Routing

5) Packet Switching

B. MAJOR MARKET DRIVERS

1) ATM

2) ATM Switching

3) Typical ATM Applications

4) Benefits of ATM

5) ATM Classes of Service

6) Voice over ATM

7) Video over ATM

8) ATM Internetworking

9) ATM Market Penetration

10) IP

11) IP Switching / Routing

12) IP over SONET / SDH

13) IP over ATM

14) IP over SONET / SDH vs. IP over ATM

15) The Need for IPv6

16) Achieving QoS in IP Networks

17) MPLS

18) MPLS Functionality

19) MPLS Forwarding Process

20) MPLS Scalability

21) MPLS Traffic Engineering

22) Routing vs. MPLS

C. STANDARD GROUPS

1) ATM Standard Groups

2) IP Standard Groups

3) MPLS Standard Groups

D. SHORT-TERM / LONG-TERM GROWTH FORECAST

1) The Future of MPLS in Public Networks

2) MPLS Short-Term / Long-Term Forecast

3) The Future of ATM in Public Networks

4) The Future of IP in Public Networks

4. IP / ATM BACKBONE — ARCHITECTURE TRENDS

A. INTRODUCTION

1) Management Problems with Self Routing

B. ISSUES RELEVANT TO IP NETWORKS

1) QoS (Quality of Service) and Related Topics

2) The Need for Traffic Engineering

3) Conclusions Regarding Implementation of CoS / QoS and Traffic Engineering

C. TRANSPORT APPROACHES — SONET AND ATM

1) Introduction

2) SONET Basics

3) SONET Networks

4) Transporting ATM over SONET

D. TRANSPORT APPROACHES — IP

1) IP over ATM

2) Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS)

3) IP over Optical Networks and its Likely Evolution

4) Trends in Optical Technology and the Architecture of Future Networks

E. ROUTERS VERSUS SWITCHES IN THE IP BACKBONE

1) The Issue

2) The Respective Merits of Routers and Switches

3) Combining Routing and Switching

4) Trends in Routing and Switching Hardware

F. FUTURE FORECAST OF NETWORK ARCHITECTURE

1) General

2) Using Fewer but Larger Switches / Routers and More Direct Routes

3) Consolidation of Sub-Networks will Reduce the Number of Hops per Connection

4) Switches / Routers Must Handle Multi-Terabit Traffic

5) A New Optical Infrastructure will Evolve

6) All-Optical Network will Use Rings Rather than Intermeshed Topology

7) Circuit Switching in the All-Optical Network — a Basis for Packet Transport?

8) Long-Distance Voice Transport will Migrate to Packet

9) No Universal Network will Emerge

10) Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) will Develop Independently of the Packet Backbone System

G. CONCLUSIONS

5. TRENDS IN HIGH PERFORMANCE PACKET SWITCHING TECHNOLOGY

A. INTRODUCTION

B. ATM SWITCHES

1) General

2) ATM Port Modules

3) Port Modules for Non-ATM Services

4) Other Design Issues for Port Modules

5) Switching Fabrics — General

6) Time-Division Switching Fabrics

7) ATM Switching Elements of the Space-Division Type

8) Constructing a Large ATM Fabric from Multiple Switching Elements

9) Which Switch Fabric Types are Actually Used in Commercial Products?

10) Buffering Issues

11) Common Equipment

12) Trends in Basic Technologies for High Performance Packet Switches and Routers

13) Redundancy and Other Considerations for Carrier-Class Switches

14) Future Trends in Backbone ATM Switches

C. IP ROUTERS

1) General Architecture of High Performance Routers

2) Router Port Modules

3) Router Engine

4) The Switching Fabric

5) Common Equipment

D. POTENTIAL IMPACT OF OPTICAL SWITCHING TECHNOLOGY ON ATM SWITCHES AND ROUTERS

1) Introduction

2) Optical Cross-Points for Space-Division Switching

3) Optical Time-Division Switching

4) Optical Wavelength-Division Switching

5) Designing Real Optical Switches from These Components

E. MPLS, MPOA AND RELATED SCHEMES

1) General

2) Classical IP over ATM

3) LAN Emulation (LANE)

4) Multi-Protocol Over ATM (MPOA)

5) Multiple Protocol Label Switching (MPLS)

F. STATUS AND TRENDS IN GIGABIT ETHERNET TRANSPORT AND SWITCHING

1) General

2) Virtual LAN Services for Long-Haul LAN Interconnections

3) Recent Gigabit Ethernet Transport Trends

4) What is the Significance of 10 Gigabit Ethernet?

5) Likely Trends in 10 Gigabit Ethernet Switching

G. COMPARING MPLS WITH MPOA

1) General

2) MPLS Versus MPOA — The Most Important Properties

3) The Most Important Advantages and Disadvantages of MPLS

4) The Most Important Advantages and Disadvantages of MPOA

H. CONCLUSIONS

6. COST-BASED PRICE FORECAST FOR BACKBONE PACKET SWITCHES AND ROUTERS

A. GENERAL

B. COST OF PORT MODULES FOR ATM SWITCHES AND IP ROUTERS

1) Transmission Interfaces

2) Port Modules for ATM Switches

3) Cost of a Routing Engine

4) Port Modules for Routers

C. COST OF A TYPICAL SWITCHING NETWORK

D. COST OF A COMMON CONTROL SUBSYSTEM

E. LIFETIME R&D EXPENDITURES AND THEIR ALLOCATION

F. ASSUMPTIONS MADE FOR OUR COST