At its annual User Group Conference, Calix formally unveiled the AXOS E9-2 Intelligent Edge System, the system that was selected for NG-PON2 lab testing in Verizon’s Innovation Lab in Waltham, Massachusetts, earlier this year (see Verizon evaluates suppliers ahead of NG-PON2 deployment).
Described it as a “revolutionary system that accelerates service providers’ transition to NG-PON2”, the AXOS E9-2 allows service providers to converge mobile, business, and residential services networks into one network. This architecture is expected to delivers a dramatic reduction in total cost of ownership for service providers.
For service providers looking to flatten their networks from the data centre to the subscriber edge, the E9-2 provides the perfect vehicle for this transformation, by collapsing access, aggregation, and service edge functions, including routing and subscriber management, into a single system, according to Calix.
“With NG-PON2 coming to the market early next year, bandwidth intensive applications like 5G mobile backhaul and multi-tenant business locations will be the first to benefit from the technology,” said Matt Davis, program director for IDC. “As NG-PON2 moves to residential deployment, service providers will have a major opportunity to combine disparate networks and quickly operationalize the delivery of new services. A converged network approach that brings together mobile, business, and residential services onto one will be key to allowing service providers to quickly scale and simplify their operations.”
The E9-2 Intelligent Edge System is a carrier class system featuring two universal line card slots. The first cards available will be the E9-2 NG1601 access line card and the CLX3001 system aggregation and control card. The NG1601 supports 16 ports of NG-PON2 and XGS-PON, as well as supporting co-existence with other PON technologies, such as GPON. The CLX3001 card provides management, control, and data plane redundancy as well as Layer 2 switching for both business and residential services and Layer 3 routing for residential services.
Commenting on the new product, Michel Langlois, Calix senior vice president of systems products, said: “The E9-2 is a first of its kind system that redefines the services edge of the access network, and in doing so provides the foundation for a new network approach that gives service providers the power to reduce capital investment and lower operational costs, in order to stand ready for a world characterised by subscriber driven access.”