Optical Enterprise Solutions for Educators

Nortel believes that the future of education relies on a process of learning which engages all stakeholders effectively.students, teachers, parents, and administrators. Learning without Boundaries means that we create engaged learning communities where everyone is connected, to eachother and to the latest resources and tools. Optical networking is a key enabler of this connectivity by providing a single, cost-effective network that provides voice, data, and video applications at high capacity.

Optical networking provides the key attributes of availability, efficiency, and resiliency necessary to the successful deployment of a new set of rich multimedia experiences, including:

• Transforming the K-12 classroom: Optical solutions transform the educational experience in schools by delivering up to 1000 times the bandwidth of legacy services while simplifying network design through the convergence of voice, video and data over a single infrastructure. Many schools have begun utilizing this technology to lower cost while also delivering distance learning and collaboration into the classroom and implementing safe school policies including video monitoring.
• Creating the virtual campus: Universities may similarly create a single converged infrastructure layer for their campuses that lowers cost and enables new applications. Nortel converged optical solution is equally at home on the university campus, providing a highly resilient backbone infrastructure. Delivering similar economics as to a school district, this optical solution can be used to tie geographically separated campuses into a virtual campus with transparent communication of voice, data, and video.
• Building world-class research and experimental networks: This same optical technology may provide state-of-the-art research network connectivity enabling grid computing that enhances leading edge engineering, genetic and astro- or geo-physical research through low-latency, ultra-high bandwidth switched networks. Research and experimental networks typically link a relatively small number of institutions with specific communities of interest. This complex routing requirement combined with large data and computing requirements make a direct connection to the optical layer (GbE, 10GbE, OC-n/STM-n or wavelength) an ideal solution in both cost and performance in terms of latency, reliability, and throughput.