When our first smart grid product of the year, or “POTY,” awards were announced, I wrote a recap article summarizing the winners so readers could learn about all the companies in one place. Since then, I have followed up directly with some of these companies to learn more about what they bring to Smart Grid. One of those companies is ADTRAN (News - Alert), who will be quite familiar to regular TMC readers. However, they also have a strong Smart grid story, and to explore that, I conducted the following interview with Kevin Morgan (News - Alert), Director of Product Marketing with ADTRAN.

Let’s start by acknowledging your smart grid Product of the Year Award. I’ve followed ADTRAN for some time in the telecom space, but your company is less well known in the utility market. How are you using this award to position yourself as a company for this sector?

ADTRAN is honored to have received the smart grid Product of the Year Award. We see this as a reflection of the innovation ADTRAN is bringing to the Utilities market. That market is in need of a communications overhaul and we understand many companies are searching for state-of-the-art fiber optic communications equipment. We hope that the exposure gained through this award will help increase the awareness of ADTRAN’s unique solution in the utility market.

Utilities are a secondary market for ADTRAN. Tell us about the opportunity you see here, and what utilities need to know about ADTRAN.

The utilities need communications systems that are dependable and work well in their elevated power environments. These installations typically deal with high levels of voltage spikes and electromagnetic interference, or “EMI.” ADTRAN has been developing and engineering communications equipment for 25 years. We know what it takes to make networks reliable and we are taking this engineering know-how into the utility market as evidenced by the latest enhancements to the OPTI-6100 product family. 

Coming back to POTY, OPTI 6100 is the product family to focus on here. Tell us first about how OPTI 6100 is deployed by telcos. What functions does it address, and what capabilities does it enable?

ADTRAN’s OPTI-6100 access portfolio’s rich feature set supports the delivery of both TDM and Ethernet services simultaneously. Traditional TDM services are switched as individual channels, while multiple channels can be bonded together to transport Ethernet as a single logical channel. This provides service providers with solutions that facilitate the migration from circuit to packet-based services without the need for a new platform. A variety of physical interfaces and mounting arrangements are provided to match carrier deployment strategies.

Shifting over to utilities, where does OPTI 6100 fit into their networks, and what adaptations have you needed to make to suit these needs?

Utilities across the U.S. are moving to take advantage of the $4.5 billion in stimulus funding available for smart grid technologies. In direct response to customer requests, ADTRAN adapted its industry-leading OPTI-6100 platform to be IEEE (News - Alert) 1613-compliant thereby ensuring the OPTI-6100 meets stringent industry standards for electromagnetic interference and does not disrupt network operation. This adaptation enables ADTRAN’s existing utility customers—many of whom already realize the efficiencies of the ADTRAN OPTI-6100—to extend the use of the platform into other areas of their network.

Unlike telcos, utility substations are typically more exposed to the elements, and require more rugged equipment. Meeting the IEEE 1613 specification has a lot to do with this – tell us more about this and how difficult was it for ADTRAN to meet these specs?

ADTRAN designed and tested components of this OPTI-6100 platform to comply with the IEEE 1613, 'Standard Environmental and Testing Requirements for Communications Networking Devices in Electric Power Substations' standard, which outlines the guidelines for equipment operation in the presence of electromagnetic interference. The software component of the product, which is deployed by every major telecommunications company in the United States, was unaffected. Modifications we made to the hardware to meet IEEE 1613 compliance. After the prototypes were built, we tested extensively to the rigorous standard. While this was a time consuming exercise, the result was a unique solution that provides the reliability demanded by this market.

We’ve talked a bit about how utilities have two distinct needs that OPTI 6100 address – network management/surveillance and communications. Backhaul is an important element here, as is the need for real time access-side communication. What are the challenges you faced addressing these needs?

The utilities’ communications needs are not that different from the needs of major telecommunications companies when it comes to access equipment and services.  Both need reliable products that can offer a wide array of services across a number of different scenarios.  The OPTI-6100 is firmly established in the backhaul market. IEEE-1613 compliance was our only hurdle, because the OPTI-6100 platform has an established track record for backhaul by service providers of all sizes. The backhaul application for utilities is fundamentally the same. 

As with Central Offices for telcos, space is at a premium at utility substations. How do these requirements differ when adapting OPTI 6100 to the Smart grid market?

We have benefited for some time from the push to deliver DS1s and DS3s over fiber in a space constrained environment. The OPTI 6100 is a single architecture platform designed to meet small and large customer needs (MX and SMX chassis’ use the same modules). The OPTI 6100 SMX chassis provides the ideal combination of small packaging and versatility for TDM and Ethernet delivery over SONET. The modular design offers a growth path to higher rate services, and our product roadmap protects the service provider’s investment whether future needs call for overlay or converged Ethernet access solutions. 

How do these capabilities translate into a value proposition that resonates for utilities?

ADTRAN price points are among the best in the industry and because the OPTI-6100 is a single architecture platform, not only does that save money by reducing the cost of having to maintain multiple sets of plug-ins, it reduces the learning curve for field technicians as well.

 

ADTRAN OPTI-6100 modules support functionality which affords remote trouble isolation and diagnostic capabilities thereby reducing the need for external test equipment.  Other equipment suppliers require outboard test units, which add cost, complexity, space, powering issues, and points of failure to the overall design. That can be a huge differentiator for utilities which are now beginning to experience increased circuit deployments.

 

Smart grid is still evolving, and new interfaces will be needed. What are some of the innovations we can expect to see with future upgrades from ADTRAN?

We listen to our customers, regardless of the market we serve and the utility market is no exception. Our customers are looking for opportunities to integrate other functionality into the OPTI-6100 where it makes sense. For example, some power companies have asked for a way to fiber interface their telemetry equipment. They can avoid extra equipment costs if they have a blade in the OPTI-6100 that provides an Nx64 or V.35-like connection. We are monitoring the development of industry standards like IEEE C37.94 to determine if we can effectively provide this functionality in the OPTI-6100 product family.