MICROSENS expands its product range for the Enterprise Access area with new Gigabit Ethernet media converters. In the LAN area Ethernet/Fast Ethernet is quite well established as standard protocol for office solutions.

As the workplaces are connected mostly through the Fast Ethernet links, bandwidths in the backbone are needed, which will allow the users to use their bandwidths effectively. Up to now such topologies like ATM, FDDI and Fibre Channel were used here.

As a result of conversion from one protocol to another needed over and over again, the network structures used to become complex very quickly. Because of that complexity their use was given up very often and the connections between the switches became a bottleneck.

The implementation of Gigabit Ethernet is much simpler. It is fully compatible with Ethernet/Fast Ethernet protocols and can be easily integrated in the existing network structures. Nevertheless, the high bandwidth creates other demands towards the transmission media and requires the acquisition of expensive switching interfaces.

The maximal network planning flexibility is offered to the user by the new MICROSENS Gigabit converter. Due to the use of this converter the number and the localization of Gigabit Ethernet fiber ports needed can be adjusted in an optimal way.

Thus the existing connections between the edge and core area can be seamlessly migrated from Fast Ethernet to higher bandwidths. But it is also valuable to use the MICROSENS Gigabit Ethernet converters in the core area. Enhanced versions allow direct migration to single mode fiber optic connections (up to 70 kilometres). Separate and expensive migration from SX to LX interfaces for "long distance" applications is no longer necessary.

This technology is a premier solution especially for wide enterprise networks, as well as for campus and metropolitan area networks (MAN). Due to an integrated Link Through function, the connection status of separate segments is transferred further. Thus in the case of connection breakdown it is possible to switch to redundant connections quickly. The slide-in modules of the MICROSENS converter can be hot-swapped and allow the whole system to be reconfigured quickly. Beside the application in the central access platform, the desktop version of the converter can also be used as a standalone device.

Therewith the bandwidth-consuming multimedia workstations, application servers, storage devices and power engines dedicated for Gigabit Ethernet switches can be connected.