Evolution of Carrier Ethernet – Technology Choices and Drivers

The shift from native Ethernet in LANs to switched Ethernet in WANs has propelled efforts of making Ethernet as an ideal candidate technology for transport. Carrier Ethernet has the advantage of being able to be offered as a service to customers. Two questions that we desire to answer in this paper are (1) how Carrier Ethernet can scale as a service in the metropolitan and access premises and (2) what are the key applications that will most benefit from such technology development. We attempt to answer the first question by first reviewing the multiple strategies adapted by vendors in deploying Carrier Ethernet. We then show how scalable Carrier Ethernet can be used for multiple service offerings, especially focusing on video distribution/SAN/mobile-backhaul. We then discuss the service requirements which need to be satisfied to make the native Ethernet carrier class. The paper also discusses impacting underlying technologies which are crucial in making Carrier Ethernet a success. A simulations study throws light on the different strategies of implementing Carrier Ethernet. WDM SONET/SDH Ethernet IP WDM SONET /SDH Ethernet IP Application Application WDM Ethernet IP Application Pre-2006 2007-2011 Future