Soapstone Networks demonstrated its service control plane framework for assuring carrier Ethernet service via a live, multi-vendor network running on the NXTComm08 show floor.

Soapstone’s Provider Network Controller, or PNC, is being demonstrated as part of a Carrier Ethernet network comprised of switches from Anda Networks, Cisco, Extreme Networks, Hammerhead Sstems, Nortel and Telco Systems. The demo network also includes Amdocs Cramer OSS, which plays the role of taking apart the service into its component parts and passing a TMForum-specified service contract to the PNC.

The demonstration shows service providers the power of having a service plane layer pre-integrated into a carrier Ethernet network “from the OSS down to the underlying network components,” said Esmerelda Swartz, senior vice president of marketing and business development for Soapstone. “It closes the loop between fulfillment and assurance” for carrier Ethernet services.

That capability is part of the larger trend moving carrier Ethernet from what was essentially a best-effort service into a service governed by strict, enterprise-class SLAs, Swartz said.

The Soapstone service plane solution enables this by decoupling service provisioning from the underlying network technology, allowing service providers to evolve their network and services more rapidly. At the same time, this approach tightly couples fulfillment and assurance, enabling carriers to actively monitor network elements and gain real-time reports on performance, utilization, faults and resource inventory.