February 27, 2007 -- IMC Networks has announced the release of its iMcV-FiberLinX-II line of optical access products. According to the company, by combining advanced optical demarcation features with media conversion capabilities, the FiberLinX-II line enables CATV, MSO, telecommunications and Metro Ethernet operators to deliver fiber-optic Internet, transparent LAN and Ethernet Private Line services to business customers.
Designed to provide an Ethernet demarcation at a customer network's edge, the FiberLinX-II line cards feature a 100-Mbit/sec fiber port and a 10/100 Ethernet port that connects to the customer LAN. The company says that while unit functions as a traditional managed media converter, a wealth of features have been added to appeal to FTTX network operators.
"The FiberLinX-II system offers carrier-grade management and configuration capabilities not typically found on other Ethernet-based optical demarcation solutions in this price range," contends Jerry Roby, CEO and founder of IMC Networks. "This is the most significant upgrade to the FiberLinX family since we first deployed the product in 1999."
New features include full support for IEEE 802.1Q standard Q-in-Q functionality. Q-in-Q, or Extra-tagging, allows for the additional tagging of VLAN traffic to insure secure and efficient delivery of network data, both locally and remotely. Another new feature is the addition of user configurable EtherTypes; the company contends that EtherType control is rarely found in traditional media converters. Last gasp traps are also now included, to alert network operators when power is no longer being supplied to the device.
Features carried over from the existing FiberLinX product family include Layer-2 VLAN tagging and stacking, 802.1p QoS, loopback testing, bandwidth provisioning, support of "jumbo" packets, real-time reporting of the local and remote unit, and link status and RMON statistics via the company's GUI-based iView2 SNMP application.
The FiberLinX-II system supports end-to-end management of the entire access network via SNMP. According to IMC, from a central location, network operators are able to receive real-time device and traffic statistics on the remote CPE, allocate bandwidth, turn services on or off, initiate loopback testing, change customer VLAN settings and adjust QoS policies assigned to different traffic types. In addition, support for the Universal Management Agent (UMA) allows network operators to manage the end-to-end access network with one IP address, instead of monitoring the head-end, fiber infrastructure and the CPE as individual elements.
The FiberLinX-II module is designed to be installed in an IMC Networks' chassis. Since the module features an on-board SNMP agent, it can be installed in a 3, 6 or 20-slot managed iMediaChassis chassis or in a 1 or 2-slot unmanaged MediaChassis chassis (the single slot MediaChassis is ideal for deploying the FiberLinX-II as a CPE, in low density applications, according to the company).
Further, to accommodate a wide range of fiber networks, the module supports several fiber types and distances including 1310-nm singlemode up to 70 Km, 1550-nm singlemode up to 80 Km, as well as single-strand fiber models that transmit full-duplex data over just one strand of fiber, extending distances up to 60 Km. Future versions will support RJ-45 copper-to-copper, and SFP to RJ-45 copper.
The FiberLinX-II is now available through IMC Networks' distribution channel; list pricing starts at $420.00. For more product information, click here.
The FiberLinX-II system will be featured at the IMC Networks booth during the 2007 FOSE tradeshow in Washington D.C. from March 20-22, 2007.