Carrier Ethernet SLA Assurance Demarcation Device

• Provides user/network demarcation point for SLA-based business services and for mobile backhaul
• Reduces mobile backhaul costs by combining smart demarcation with network synchronization capabilities in a single device
• Ultra-fast , highly accurate Ethernet OAM and performance monitoring with hardware-based processing
• Enables remote and automatic fault localization without service interruptions or costly on-site inspections
• Ensures service continuity in event of link failures with dual homing and single homing redundancy

Hardware Ethernet OAM and Performance monitoring for SLA assurance

The ETX-204A combines Ethernet demarcation with test-head functionalities, featuring a complete Ethernet OAM suite that includes Ethernet Link OAM (IEEE standard 802.3-2005, formerly 802.3ah), Ethernet Service OAM (IEEE 802.1ag) and Performance Monitoring (ITU-T Y.1731). These are enhanced with a built-in RFC-2544 test generation engine for unidirectional and bi-directional testing of throughput, latency and frame loss. In addition, the device features Layer 1, 2 and 3 diagnostic loopback capabilities with MAC and IP address swap.

Incorporating ultra-fast, hardware-based processing capabilities, the ETX-204A performs
OAM and PM measurements in under 1 microsecond with maximum precision, offering the following powerful benefits:

• Immediate detection of loss of continuity (LOC) to ensure under 50 ms protection switching
• Highly accurate frame loss measurements with live-traffic testing
• Flow-level monitoring enables simultaneous processing of hundreds of OAM sessions
• Loopback testing at line rate

The ETX-204A offers advanced SLA assurance tools, including customer-defined KPI (key performance indicators) threshold configuration, real-time SLA violation alerts and per-flow daily statistics reporting. The latter allows carriers and wholesale providers to execute effective capacity planning to overcome the “peak to mean” gap, such that bandwidth is added only when needed based on actual usage trends.

Fault propagation mechanisms include subscriber port shutdown, as well as alarm indication signal (AIS) and remote defect indication (RDI) per Y.1731, to allow immediate notification and containment of service-affecting problems.

The ETX-204A provides end-to-end visibility across the entire service path to help carriers localize service-affecting faults and determine their origin – without requiring expensive truck rolls or service shut-downs to do so.

Remote provisioning and traffic management

The ETX-204A features advanced architecture for handling multi-priority traffic on a per-flow basis. The device enables multi-criteria traffic classification as well as metering, policing and shaping functionalities help carriers rate-limit user traffic according to pre-defined CIR (committed information rate) and EIR (excess information rate) profiles.

Enhanced quality of service is further supported by a hierarchical scheduling mechanism that combines strict priority (SP) and weighted fair queue (WFQ) scheduling, to efficiently handle real-time, premium and best-effort traffic. The ETX-204A also uses weighted random early detection (WRED) policy for intelligent queue management and congestion avoidance. Packet editing functionalities, such as color-sensitive P-bit re-marking, ensure metering continuity across color-aware and color-blind metro networks and WANs.

Management and security

The ETX-204A features flexible management capabilities, including local management via an ASCII terminal (RS-232). In addition, remote management can be performed either inband, using the network or user ports, or out-of-band using a dedicated management port, while maintaining separation between management and user traffic via the use of VLANs. Advanced FCAPS (Fault, Configuration, Administration, Performance, Security) and diagnostic tools are provided by RADview-EMS, RAD’s carrier-class element management system, via an SNMP-based GUI.

The ETX-204A also supports a variety of access protocols, including CLI over Telnet, SNMP and TFTP. Incorporated security features include Secure Shell (SSH), Web-based Secure Socket Layer (SSL), SNMPv3, and RADIUS, as well as management access control list (ACL). The ETX-204A can also be easily integrated in third-party OSS.

Synchronization and timing accuracy is critical for the quality of mobile services over asynchronous packet networks. These introduce packet delay variation and packet loss, which may lead to service disruptions, impaired cell hand-offs and excessive dropped calls.
Incorporating RAD’s SyncToP synchronization and Timing over Packet feature set, the ETX-204A utilizes standard technologies to ensure highly accurate clock recovery and distribution over both the physical and packet layers:

• Synchronous Ethernet (Sync-E) master and slave clock support per ITU-T G.8261-G.8264, with primary/secondary clock redundancy
• 1588v2 Precision Time Protocol Transparent Clock with hardware-based timestamping
• 1588v2 Slave Clock recovery
• 1 PPS, E1/T1 and 2 MHz signal frequency extracted from Sync-E, E1/T1 or 1588v2 Slave

The ETX-204A also supports simultaneous use of multiple timing and synchronization technologies, to reconcile different methodologies used in various network segments, thereby eliminating the need for costly upgrades. Such powerful clock transfer capabilities allow backhaul providers to ensure SDH/SONET-level performance, including frequency accuracy of 16 ppb (parts per billion) or better, without investing in dedicated hardware.