The Metrobility® Access Line Cards provide the ability to reach across a metropolitan area network to communicate, test and reconfigure an unmanaged remote device, without reducing the available bandwidth to the customer site. These devices provide a high level of manageability — including dynamic bandwidth provisioning, remote loopback testing, real-time analog and RMON statistics. The Access Line Card gathers real-time data to provide critical, up-to-the-minute Quality of Line information on an Ethernet fiber link including optical receive power level measurement, optical transmit power level measurement, and Radiance voltage and temperature measurements.

The Metrobility RA21 Optical Network Unit (ONU) from Telco Systems® provides a copper-to-fiber service demarcation point at the customer premise for the delivery of optical Ethernet services. The ONU communicates to a R231 Access Line Card in a managed Metrobility chassis at the central office.

This patented technology (U.S. Patent NO. 6,741,566 B1) utilizes a management channel embedded in the inter-packet gap (IPG) between Ethernet frames to send management information in real time across a network between two Access Line Cards or between an Access Line Card and an RA21 Optical Network Unit. The ONU communicates to a R231 Access Line Card in a managed Metrobility chassis at the central office.

Utilizing this technology, the service provider can reach across a metropolitan area network to communicate, test and reconfigure the Access Line Card or the RA21 ONU, without reducing the available bandwidth to the customer site, and without managing an additional IP address.

The innovative access line card technology does not require an IP address, or an SNMP software stack at each service subscriber (CPE), which greatly simplifies the installation. Because an IP address is not required at every access point, this solution 'scales' extremely well for large metro access service deployment, which could otherwise require the management of thousands to tens of thousands of IP addresses by the service provider. Further, network security is improved since no IP address exists to be 'attacked'.

Access Line Cards are supported in the Metrobility R5000, R1000 or R400 chassis and require an R502-M Management Card and NetBeacon 3.01 or above for reporting.

• Quality of Equipment (QoE) Monitoring
  
• Quality of Line (QoL) Monitoring
  
• Quality of Optical Amplitude (QoOA)
  
• Dynamic bandwidth provisioning in 1Mpbs increments