Contact Information: For further information Media: Jeff Ferry Infinera Tel. +1-408-572-5213 jferry@infinera.com Investors: Bob Blair Infinera Tel. +1-408-716-4879 bblair@infinera.com
Infinera Introduces New Line System, Sets New Standard for Capacity
160 Channels, Longer Reach and Scalability to 8 Terabits on a Fiber
| Source: Infinera
SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - June 9, 2008) - Infinera (NASDAQ : INFN ) will introduce the
ILS2, its next-generation optical line system at next week's NXTcomm08
trade show. The new line system, based on a new passive photonic integrated
circuit (PIC) platform, represents a breakthrough in optical system design.
It packs up to 160 DWDM (or dense wavelength division multiplexing)
channels into the C-band, increases the optical reach of the system to 2500
kilometers, and enables greater capacity, with future scalability up to 8
Terabits/second (Tb/s) on a single fiber, supporting bandwidth growth and
10 Gigabit/second (Gb/s), 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s service delivery.
Improvements in Capacity and Density -- without Sacrificing Digital Ease of
Use
The ILS2 system, which begins shipping this summer, employs a 25 Gigahertz
(GHz) grid, twice the density of Infinera's previous line system. This
allows transmission of 160 DWDM channels of light within the C-band.
Extremely dense channel spacing is achieved by high-performance optical
filters and multiplexers integrated into a new passive PIC designed by
Infinera and manufactured at Infinera's Annapolis Junction, Maryland
semiconductor fabrication facility. [See related news release:
Infinera Unveils New Passive PIC Platform.]
Infinera believes that the ILS2 system is an ideal platform for network
operators offering large volumes of 10G, 40G, and future 100G services.
With Infinera's market-leading DTN line cards, the ILS2 delivers up to 1.6
Tb/s of optical capacity. Once Infinera introduces its next-generation line
cards, the ILS2 system will deliver 160 DWDM channels each operating at 40
Gb/s, for total capacity of 6.4 Tb/s, entirely in the C-band. In an 8 Tb/s
configuration, Infinera line cards will deliver 80 channels at 100 Gb/s
each, for a new industry standard in optical capacity on a fiber.
All these configurations are designed to share Infinera's digital
ease-of-use and flexibility. With Infinera PICs integrating ten DWDM
channels on a pair of chips, Infinera systems turn up ten channels at a
time, simplifying the installation and provisioning process, and making 160
channel systems easier to install and manage. Infinera's GMPLS-powered
service intelligence makes it easy and cost-effective to turn up large
volumes of capacity and manage large networks without a large staff of
optics specialists. The flexibility of the system enables customers to mix
and match PIC-based line cards of different capacities or operating at
different wavelength data rates, and run these different wavelength rates
over the same optical line system without significant reengineering.
Moreover, upgrades from one line card to a higher capacity line card can be
done in-service, simplifying engineering, minimizing downtime or revenue
loss, and providing investment protection for customers operating existing
Infinera systems. Infinera's Bandwidth Virtualization™ capability is
designed to ensure that services can be provisioned across any network
link, regardless of the optical parameters of the underlying wavelengths.
An ILS2 network can deploy 10G, 40G, and future 100G services over the same
infrastructure, quickly, flexibly, and without significant optical
reengineering.
The ILS2 system also introduces optical express in Infinera networks, to
enable service providers to optically express most traffic through
locations where only a small fraction needs to be added or dropped. The
introduction of optical express increases the flexibility and
cost-effectiveness of the Infinera system for all kinds of network designs,
including ultra-long-haul (ULH) express networks, consolidated
core/collector networks, and metro core networks.
In addition to enhancements to capacity and flexibility, the ILS2 is
designed to extend optical reach up to 2500 kilometers. Extended optical
reach enables Infinera customers to achieve greater economies in networks
with spans that traverse very long distances with no need to drop traffic.
Extended reach also enables greater single-span distances, valuable for
applications such as festoon networks or to enable hut-skipping. Extended
optical reach is achieved with the introduction of Raman amplification
modules as part of ILS2.
Raman amplification and passive PIC technology leverage technology acquired
in two Infinera transactions made two years ago, the acquisition of Corvis
Corporation's assets and the acquisition of Little Optics. In each case
Infinera acquired highly differentiated technology, integrated it into the
Infinera system and developed it further. The teams acquired in both
acquisitions have now been combined in an Infinera center of excellence in
Annapolis Junction, Maryland. Bringing the Raman amplification and passive
PIC capabilities to market in the new ILS2 line system demonstrates the
benefits of Infinera's strategy of highly focused acquisitions in support
of specific product and technology goals.
The passive PICs, based on a technology platform acquired with Little
Optics, enable the multiplexing and demultiplexing of 160 DWDM channels in
the C-band and are designed to deliver other significant benefits including
greater density, functionality, simplicity, reliability, and
manufacturability. Like Infinera's active PIC platform, Infinera believes
the passive PIC platform is designed to offer substantial opportunities to
enhance functionality, density, and performance as integration increases in
the years to come.
The new features and functionality in the ILS2 line system, which begins
shipping this summer, build on the Infinera DTN's established record as one
of the most advanced, innovative, powerful, and flexible digital ROADM and
DWDM optical system for long-haul, regional, and metro core networks. The
introduction of large-scale photonic integration in the Infinera DTN marked
the first time that service providers could enjoy the benefits of the
Digital Optical Network architecture, including simplicity of operations,
speed of installation, rapid deployment of new services, integrated
bandwidth management and transport, and the service intelligence of a
GMPLS-powered network operating system. The very significant increase in
capacity, combined with extended reach and the addition of optical express,
should expand the ability of an Infinera network to meet the specialized
needs of more customer networks and networking applications. ILS2 will be
on display at NXTcomm08 in Las Vegas.
SAVVIS, Inc., a global leader in IT infrastructure services for business
applications, will upgrade its California network to Infinera's new ILS2
line system, to take advantage of the scalability, extended optical reach,
and other advanced features in ILS2. [See also today's related news
release,
SAVVIS® Expands ATN Network in California to Feature High Bandwidth,
Optical Network Services from Infinera.]
"The relative lack of market investment earlier this decade is threatening
to jeopardize DWDM systems' 13-year success in enabling exponential
declines in capital expenditure per bit per kilometer of network backbone
capacity. Luckily, Infinera is one vendor that has stepped up investment in
innovation to put the market back on the road to exponential improvements,"
noted Dana Cooperson, VP Network Infrastructure at Ovum. "The ILS2,
together with the 400G PIC announced in February, widens Infinera's
addressable market and maps out the company's strategy for scaling DWDM to
the next level of economical backbone capacity."
"Infinera systems have won a reputation for speed, simplicity, and
flexibility," said Infinera CEO Jagdeep Singh. "The ILS2 system builds on
those benefits with new industry benchmarks in terms of capacity, spectral
density, and reach. With ILS2, Infinera plans to extend the benefits of
Digital Optical Networks to more applications and more customers than ever
before."
About Infinera
Infinera provides Digital Optical Networking systems to telecommunications
carriers worldwide. Infinera's systems are unique in their use of a
breakthrough semiconductor technology: the photonic integrated circuit
(PIC). Infinera's systems and PIC technology are designed to provide
optical networks with simpler and more flexible engineering and operations,
faster time-to-service, and the ability to rapidly deliver differentiated
services without reengineering their optical infrastructure. For more
information, please visit www.infinera.com.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on
current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and
uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to
Infinera as of the date hereof; and actual results could differ materially
from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties.
Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Infinera's
expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, such
as scalability up to 8 Terabits/second (Tb/s), the availability of ILS2
this calendar year, our belief that the ILS2 system is an ideal platform
for network operators offering large volumes of 10G, 40G, and in the future
100G services, that the ILS2 system in the future will deliver 160 DWDM
channels each operating at 40 Gb/s, for total capacity of 6.4 Tb/s,
entirely in the C-band and that in an 8Tb/s configuration, and Infinera
line cards will deliver 80 channels at 100 Gb/s each. Such forward-looking
statements can be identified by forward-looking words such as
"anticipated," "believed," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may,"
"should," "will," and "would" or similar words. The risks and uncertainties
that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements include aggressive business
tactics by our competitors, our dependence on a single product, our ability
to protect our intellectual property, claims by others that we infringe
their intellectual property, our manufacturing process is very complex,
product performance problems we may encounter, our dependence on sole or
limited source suppliers, our ability to respond to rapid technological
changes, our ability to maintain effective internal controls, the ability
of our contract manufacturers to perform as we expect, a new technology
being developed that replaces the PIC as the dominant technology in optical
networks, general political, economic and market conditions and events,
including war, conflict or acts of terrorism; and other risks and
uncertainties described more fully in our annual report on Form 10-K filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 19, 2008, our
public announcements and other documents filed with or furnished to the
Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements are based on
information available to us as of the date hereof and we disclaim any
obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this press
release, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.