ETX-204A Carrier Ethernet NID Demarcation Device
ETX-204A Carrier Ethernet
NID Demarcation Device
ETX-204A is a carrier Ethernet
NID / demarcation device owned and operated by the service provider and installed at the
customer premises. It is the first demarcation device in the market that in addition to its demarcation capabilities
provides full support for the Synchronous Ethernet (SyncE) transfer network with
user clock synchronization for IP node B backhauling. ETX-204A is part of RAD’s
EtherAccess® portfolio and features Carrier Ethernet attributes, including Ethernet OAM for proactive SLA
monitoring, quality of service (QoS) per Ethernet flow, advanced traffic management capabilities, and powerful
bandwidth profiles for differentiated services – all starting at the service handoff points.
The ETX-204A SyncToP™ suite includes clock recovery and distribution using IEEE
1588v2 Precision Timing Protocol, Synchronous Ethernet, and a built-in input/output clock interface. The
ETX-204A can use SyncE to receive the clock from the network and distribute it to the cell
site, or can transparently forward via 1588v2 with accurate timestamps.
FLEXIBLE PORT OPTIONS
OF THE RAD ETX-204A
ETX-204A is equipped with two Ethernet network ports, supporting link protection
based on 802.3ad or dual homing for increased service resiliency. The network and user ports use SFP/UTP combo ports
that can operate as fiber optic SFP-based interfaces or electrical RJ-45 interfaces.
SFP/UTP COMBO PORTS
The SFP/UTP combo Ethernet ports accommodate a wide range of Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet SFP
transceivers, allowing service providers to seamlessly connect customers located at
different distances from the RAD ETX-204A.
ETX-204A NID OFFERS FLEXIBLE TRAFFIC MAPPING
Traffic is mapped to the Ethernet flows (EVCs) using very flexible classification
criteria that can be combined, for example:
• Port-based (All-to-one bundling)
• VLAN + VLAN priority
• VLAN + IP precedence
• VLAN + DSCP
• Ether Type
• IP/MAC source/destination address
• Untagged.
More classification criteria and combinations can be found in the user manual.
ETX-204A ETHERNET NID QOS
Different service types require different levels of QoS to be provided end-to-end.
QoS can be defined per subscriber as well as per service. QoS has three aspects: rate
limitation, traffic shaping, and traffic prioritization. Traffic policing is applied per flow or group
of flows, and operates according to the dual token bucket mechanism based on user-configurable CIR + CBS and EIR +
EBS. Traffic can be limited to the line rate or the data rate.
For prioritizing user traffic, ETX-204A maps user traffic to up to eight separate
queues per service. Each can be configured as strict priority queues or weighted fair queues
(WFQ). The queues handle traffic with different service demands, such as real-time traffic,
premium data, or best-effort data. The device uses the WRED policy to ensure that queues are not congested and
high-priority traffic is not dropped.
TYPICAL APPLICATIONS OF THIS ETHERNET NID
ETX-204A is used in the following MEF-defined applications:
• IP Node B backhauling – ETX-204A acts as a transport demarcation device, connecting the base station to the
packet network. This provides a clear demarcation between the service domain and the transport domain with
proactive service monitoring and easy fault localization throughout the entire network (see Figure 1).
• Ethernet Private Line (EPL) – Site-to-site connectivity over dedicated bandwidth without service
multiplexing (see Figure 2)
• Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) – Site-to-site connectivity over shared
bandwidth with service multiplexing (see Figure 3)
• Ethernet LAN (ELAN) – Site-to-site connectivity over dedicated bandwidth with or without service multiplexing.
CELLULAR BACKHAUL SYNCHRONIZATION
ETX-204A provides powerful synchronization capabilities, ensuring highly accurate, seamless delivery of 2G,
3G, and 4G traffic over packet backhaul. This enables mobile operators and transport providers to eliminate the risk of
service disruptions, impaired cell handoffs, and excessive dropped calls, thereby
supporting reliable transmission of real-time traffic over PSNs. The device also ensures QoS priorities for
clock traffic and supports “SDH/SONET or Better” performance requirements for
voice and video traffic, such as up to 16 ppb (parts per billion) frequency accuracy.
MANAGED QOS IN NEXT-GENERATION
RADIO ACCESS NETWORKS
ETX-204A delivers managed quality of service in next-generation radio access networks (RANs), allowing mobile
operators to enhance their 3.5G/4G service performance by combining Ethernet aggregation with OAM and SLA
enforcement capabilities – starting at the eNodeB, HSDPA base station, or WiMAX
cell site.
ETHERNET OAM
ETX-204A provides these types of Ethernet OAM:
• Single-segment (link) OAM according to IEEE 802.3-2005 (formerly 802.3ah) for remote management and fault
indication, including remote loopback, dying gasp, and MIB parameter retrieval. Active and passive mode are
supported.
• End-to-end connectivity OAM based on IEEE 802.1ag that enables Ethernet service providers to monitor their
services proactively and guarantee that customers receive the contracted SLA
• End-to-end service and performance monitoring based on ITU-T Y.1731. Fault monitoring and end-to-end
performance measurement include frame delay, frame delay variation, frame loss and availability.
COMMAND LINE INTERFACE
Databases and scripts of commonly used commands can be easily created and applied to multiple units using command
line interface.
HIERARCHICAL SCHEDULING AND SHAPING PER FLOW
Every flow has its own queues and scheduler. ETX-204A supports up to 270 services, and a total of 30 queue
blocks per network port. Each queue block is a group of eight queues per CoS. Each
flow can be bound to each queue block.
L2CP HANDLING
ETX 204A can be configured to pass through Layer-2 control frames (including other vendors’ L2CP frames) across the
network, to peer supported protocols (802.3ah and LACP), or to discard the L2CP frames.
ALARM SYNCHRONIZATION
Traps are sent with sequence IDs to network manager groups, to enable the managers to detect when traps are lost
and request the traps be sent again.
LAYER-2/ LAYER-3 LOOPBACK WITH MAC AND IP ADDRESS SWAPPING
As services and networks become more complex, tracking service and network faults is very important for conforming to
the SLA. Therefore it is vital that the service provider can perform network loopbacks to easily track failures. Layer-2
and/or layer-3 network integrity can be tested by a non-disruptive loopback performed per flow, with swapping of
MAC address and optionally IP address. When the loopback is activated, ETX-204A exchanges the source and destination
MAC/IP addresses of the incoming packets. This loopback passes through Ethernet bridges
(MAC address) and routers (IP address).
NETWORK INTERFACE REDUNDANCY
Two redundancy modes can be applied:
• Link aggregation (LAG) based on 802.3ad
• Dual homing (1:1), allowing ETX-204A to be connected to two different upstream devices.
JUMBO FRAMES AND EGRESS MTU
The unit supports large frames of up to 12 Kbytes.
ENVIRONMENT
ETX-204A/H is a temperature-hardened version with matching SFPs intended for industrial installations, available in both
19” and 8.5” enclosures.
COLOR-SENSITIVE RE-MARKING BASED ON CIR/EIR
The device features unique color-sensitive p-bit re-marking capabilities that assign
color-specific p-bit values to Ethernet frames at network ingress to ensure metering continuity across the Metro
Ethernet network.
FAULT PROPAGATION OF ETHERNET NID
The unit provides a user-configurable fault propagation mechanism in the network-to-user or user-to-network
direction. When a link failure is detected or OAM failure received, ETX-204A
Ethernet NID can
shut down the affected port or forward the OAM failure message. The fault propagation mechanism enables routers
and switches connected to both ends of the link to reroute the traffic to the redundancy path.
DYING GASP
ETX-204A reports power failures to defined network management stations bysending a trap, thus enabling the unit to
properly disconnect from the network with notification of the reason for the service problem.
MANAGEMENT
The unit can be managed using the following ports and applications:
• Local management via an ASCII terminal connected to the RS-232 port
• Remote inband management via user or network ports routed via separate VLANs, Telnet, or RADview, RAD’s
SNMP-based management system
• Out-of-band management via a dedicated management port
• SFTP – Secure File Transfer Protocol.
SECURITY
The following security protocols are provided by ETX-204A to ensure client server communication privacy and correct
user authentication:
• SNMPv3
• RADIUS (client authentication only)
• SSH for Secure Shell communication session.
DHCP
IP address, IP mask, and default gateway can be automatically obtained using
DHCP.
Key Points
• First to market carrier-class Ethernet demarcation device with full support for
Synchronous Ethernet
(ITU-T G.8262) and cellular backhaul synchronization
applications, combining demarcation and synchronization capabilities in one box
• MEF certified, supporting Ethernet Private Line
(EPL) and Ethernet Virtual
Private Line (EVPL) services with flexible mapping of user traffic into Ethernet
flows and LANs
(ELAN)
• Robust bandwidth control mechanism and Service Level Agreement
(SLA)
monitoring per Ethernet flow starting at customer premises
• Complete Ethernet OAM solution based on IEEE 802.3-2005 (formerly
802.3ah),IEEE 802.1ag, and ITU-T Y.1731 for Opex reductions
Popular models include:
ETX-204A/AC ETX-204A/AC/19/4
ETX-204A/AC/19/SYE
ETX-204A/AC/4
ETX-204A/AC/H/4
ETX-204A/DC
ETX-204A/DCR/H/4
RAD ETX-204A product data sheet (pdf)
