Swedish PacketFront Network Products AB has launched the MPC480 Edge Router platform, its first move into this market with a service provider product. PacketFront Network Products AB supplies Edge Routers and switches in the Carrier Ethernet market segment. A spin-off from the PacketFront Group in 2012, the company says it has delivered over 1,300,000 FTTH access ports to European broadband networks.
When infrastructure, from next generation mobile backhaul to high-speed broadband connections, is based on Ethernet combined with IP/MPLS, there is a need for a cost-efficient Edge Router and Ethernet Aggregation router, it says.
Legacy edge routers are struggling to achieve the cost benefits that Ethernet offers, for example with regards to access technology. The MPC480 changes that, says Stefan Tegenfalk, CTO of PacketFront.
The MPC480 is based on high-performance multicore network processors, it says, which together with the iBOS operating system from PacketFront, makes a “powerful combination of software and hardware that delivers superior packet processing”.
“The MPC480 represents the first in a new generation of edge routers that are highly-customizable and optimally priced for the tasks it performs in the network. With the MPC480, network operators benefit from reduced investment costs without compromising the functionality of the network. The market is asking for this type of product, and interest for the MPC480 is strong, says Johnny Hedlund, CEO of PacketFront.
He says the router is ready for full Software Defined Networking (SDN) integration with transaction-based control of configuration which is an important feature for operators striving to reduce service deployment costs.
The product is planned for MEF CE2.0 certification later this year and the first deployments are scheduled for Q2 of 2015.