IEEE Ratifies 802.1 Qay for Service Provider Transport Networks
July 4, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) ratified IEEE 802.1 Qay, a packet-based, connection-oriented Ethernet technology for service provider transport networks.
The IEEE 802.1 Qay - IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks - Virtual Bridged Local Area Networks - Amendment: Provider Backbone Bridge Traffic Engineering is based on the existing IEEE 802.1ah standard for provider backbone bridging (PBB).
IEEE 802.1 Qay defines PBB traffic engineering (PBB-TE), a technology that helps enable service providers to set up traffic-engineered paths across a carrier Ethernet network.
Unlike prior packet-based Ethernet, PBB-TE uses an external management plane for determining and deploying the traffic-engineered paths. This approach simplifies the operational requirements of each network element and is consistent with current transport crafts and practices, enabling a smooth migration to next-generation transport networks, according to the IEEE.
"By completing the standardization of 802.1 Qay, the IEEE is presenting service providers with a key capability that complements the existing PBB standard and supports the organic growth of Ethernet in access and aggregation metro networks," said Sterling Perrin, senior analyst at Heavy Reading.
"A lack of standardization is always an inhibitor to mass deployment of a technology by service providers," Perrin said. "The standardization of both PBB and PBB-TE now remove this barrier and I expect we'll see increased and renewed interest in PBB-TE as a transport technology."
Source: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association (IEEE-SA).