Wave Issue 0104 1/19/01 Article 3-01

***Atoga Systems Releases Optical Application Router 5
(January 15)

Atoga Systems, a developer of intelligent Wavelength Division
Multiplexing (WDM) solutions, has announced the availability of
its first product, Optical Application Router 5 (OAR 5), a device
that uses tunable lasers to enable on-demand bandwidth
provisioning and dynamic optical scaling. The OAR 5 will help
metropolitan service providers attract customers by introducing
per-user and per-application service-level agreements (SLAs),
pursue higher-margin revenue opportunities with the introduction
of metered application services and reduce operational costs by
provisioning data and voice services across optical networks more
efficiently.

To date, carriers have had to endure a complex process of
manually configuring three separate network layers - IP,
Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) and WDM - to provision
services because industry standards for communications among the
Open System Interconnection (OSI) stack layers have not been
defined. OAR 5, based on Atoga's FastApp network architecture,
eliminates the complexities because provisioning information
flows freely among the integrated IP, SONET and WDM layers in
this single platform.

The Atoga solution's tunable lasers enable service providers to
create multiple logical topologies in a physical ring. In this
way, the OAR 5's "tunability" delivers scalability and enables
more efficient use of network resources. Also, the OAR 5's
tunable lasers enable flexible re-provisioning of metropolitan
rings without truck rolls.

AppDirector, the OAR 5's network-management software, presents an
intuitive graphical interface that makes it simple for service
providers to dynamically manage bandwidth based on the needs of
applications at any given moment. Provisioning information,
entered once, is distributed throughout the network, so that
traffic flows can be classified, policed and metered.
AppDirector's Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) based
repository of network policies, customer SLAs and usage
statistics can tie into service providers' business systems such
as third-party billing and mediation packages.

The OAR 5, a fully redundant system, supports 5 Gbps of switching
capacity and can be configured with a 16-port 10/100 Base TX or
FX interface card or a two-port Gigabit Ethernet SX interface
card. TDM services are available via a one-port channelized DS3
interface. The OAR 5 can be deployed in a variety of network
topologies including ring, mesh and point-to-point. The Atoga
solution is based on industry-standard routing protocols to
enhance interoperability. Up to seven OAR 5 systems fit in a
standard, seven-foot telco rack.

OAR 5 is in beta tests with several service providers. General
availability is scheduled for March 2001.

www.atoga.com