
Evolving MAN/WAN Technologies ◾ 333
As a technology, next-generation SONET systems are not “revolutionary,” but rather are “evo-
lutionary.” At the network topology level these systems are generally similar or identical to tradi-
tional SONET/SDH systems. Basically, next-generation systems are “data-aware” SONET NEs
that have direct 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, or 10 Gbps Ethernet handoff, in addition to traditional han-
doffs.* Typical industry headlines included the following: “ere is a hot new product category
emerging in the industry, but no one seems to know exactly what it is. Some call it next-generation
SONET, others call it the Multi-Service Provi ...