Ciena introduced a new multiservice transport platform today along with a new network "architecture" comprised of hardware and management and operations software that aims to give service providers a new level of flexibility in managing converged network services.

Ciena's new CN 4200 MSTP, available today, can grow through line card additions to include 24 ports in a single shelf, and the product can be stacked to carry up to 400 Gb/s per node.

One of the key features of the device is a port-level flexibility that allows service providers to remotely program any service to any port via software. The 4200 also uses sub-wavelength grooming--grooming in 155-Mb/s increments--a feature that Ciena said increases network efficiency. Either late this year or early next, Ciena plans to add what it calls "dynamic wavelength routing" to provide the routing flexibility promised by other vendors through reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexing, or ROADM.

"Here you have a line card with an optical interface," said Vinay Rathore, Ciena's senior segment marketing manager. "You can program it to be Sonet, SDH, Ethernet or a variety of storage and video protocols."

The 4200 has been selected for British Telecom's multibillion-dollar 21st Century Network and is being certified by deployment with Swisscom.

The 4200 is the first product to be part of Ciena's new FlexSelect architecture, also unveiled today, which aims to help service providers migrate from time-division networks to packet-based services. The architecture includes flexible hardware, embedded software that allows port-level programmable service provisioning and management that applies service level agreements on a per-customer basis. Over time, Ciena plans to apply FlexSelect to its other products.