3Q07 Multiservice Switch and Router Market Analysis

SUMMARY

THE ROLE OF ETHERNET TRANSPORT AND NATIVE ETHERNET SWITCHING IN FUTURE NETWORKS

In the Access Network

Both DSL and PON access networks carry IP over ATM. ATM, however, is not actually used by the subscriber equipment. Instead, ATM is terminated and the PPP and IP session transferred to an Ethernet port for connection with a LAN (or directly with a PC).

While many ISP networks today carry IP over ATM, the trend in the Internet backbone (and also in the tributary networks) is clearly away from this mode and towards IP over SONET/SDH or over DWDM.

ATM involves considerable overhead that adds to the complexity and tends to impact performance. Ethernet, on the other hand, has recently evolved as a potential candidate for use in public networks. This has been the result of introduction of Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) and 10GigE that both can interwork with regular Ethernet 10/100 without any special provisions. An additional bonus is the fact......

VENDOR SWOT ANALYSIS

For each of the vendors covered in this report we have prepared a "SWOT" analysis (Strengths and Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). This analysis applies to capabilities and activities of the vendor with regard to the market for high performance routers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION

• 1.MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS WITH SELF-ROUTING

II. ISSUES RELEVANT TO IP NETWORKS

• 1.QOS AND RELATED TOPICS
• 2.IP VPNS AND IP TUNNELING
• 3.THE NEED FOR TRAFFIC ENGINEERING
• 4.CONCLUSIONS REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF COS/QOS AND TRAFFIC ENGINEERINGIII

III. TRANSPORT APPROACHES - SONET AND ATM

• 1.INTRODUCTION
• 2.SONET BASICS
• 3.SONET NETWORKS
• 4.TRANSPORTING ATM OVER SONET

IV. 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

V. ROUTERS VS. SWITCHES IN THE IP BACKBONE

• 1.THE ISSUE
• 2.THE RESPECTIVE MERITS OF ROUTERS AND SWITCHERS
• 3.COMBINING ROUTING AND SWITCHING
• 4.TRENDS IN ROUTING AND SWITCHING HARDWARE

VI. ETHERNET - THE EMERGING UNIVERSAL TRANSPORT PROTOCOL?

• 1.ETHERNET TRANSPORT OVER OPTICAL NETWORKS AND ITS LIKELY EVOLUTION
• 2.ETHERNET ROUTING/SWITCHING

VII. INCREASES IN SESSION-BASED TRAFFIC REQUIRES ADVANCED SESSION MANAGEMENT

• 1.GENERAL
• 2.SESSION-BASED SERVICES - VOIP, VIDEO TELEPHONY, COLLABORATIVE SERVICES, M-M CONFERENCING, OTHERS
• 3.SESSION BORDER CONTROLLERS - APPLICATIONS AND PROBLEMS
• 4.THE EMERGING IMPORTANCE OF THE INTEGRATED MULTI-MEDIA SUBSYSTEM (IMS) FOR THE CORE NETWORK
• 5.CARRYING VOIP OVER THE NETWORK - ISSUES OF QOS AND COS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS FFFFFF
• 6.SUMMARY REGARDING INCREASES IN SESSION-BASED TRAFFIC

VIII. FORECAST OF FUTURE NETWORK ARCHITECTURES

• 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?FF
• 8.LONG-DISTANCE VOICE TRANSPORT IS MIGRATING TO PACKET
• 9.VOIP ALL THE WAY TO THE SUBSCRIBER VS. VOIP ONLY FROM THE MEDIA GATEWAY
• 10.WILL NETWORK CONVERSION LEAD TO A SINGLE UNIVERSAL NETWORK?
• 11.THE ROLE OF ETHERNET TRANSPORT AND NATIVE ETHERNET SWITCHING IN FUTURE NETWORKS
• 12.METROPOLITAN AREA NETWORKS (MANS) WILL DEVELOP INDEPENDENTLY OF THE PACKET BACKBONE SYSTEM

IX. COST-BASED PRICE FORECAST FOR BACKBONE AND EDGE ROUTERS

• 1.GENERAL
• 2.COST OF PORT MODULES FOR IP ROUTERS AND GIG-E SWITCHES
• 3.COST OF A TYPICAL SWITCHING NETWORK
• 4.COST OF A ROUTE PROCESSOR
• 5.LIFETIME R&D EXPENDITURES AND THEIR ALLOCATION
• 6.ASSUMPTIONS MADE FOR OUR COST MODELS OF IP ROUTERS
• 7.COST-BASED PRICE OF A SMALL IP BACKBONE ROUTER
• 8.COST-BASED PRICE OF A LARGE IP BACKBONE ROUTER
• 9.COST-BASED PRICE OF AN IP EDGE ROUTER
• 10.ASSUMPTIONS MADE FOR OUR COST MODELS OF ETHERNET ROUTERS
• 11.COST-BASED PRICE OF A LARGE ETHERNET ROUTER
• 12.COST-BASED PRICE OF AN ETHERNET EDGE ROUTER
• 13.Summary and Conclusions

X. VENDOR PROFILES

• 1.Alcatel
• 2.Avici
• 3.Chiaro
• 4.Ciena
• 5.Cisco
• 6.Foundry Networks
• 7.Fujitsu
• 8.Hitachi
• 9.Juniper
• 10.Laurel Networks
• 11.Lucent
• 12.Marconi
• 13.NEC
• 14.Nortel
• 15.Redback
• 16.Riverstone
• 17.Tellabs

XI. VENDOR SWOT ANALYSIS

XII. CONCLUSIONS

XIII. Global Installed Base