 including the following: High speed and capacity-All next-generation networks must offer very high capacities, today measured in terabits per second (1Tbps = 1 trillion bps) and already moving into the range of petabits per second (1Pbps = 1,000Tbps). Higher-bandwidth broadband access (such as 100Gbps) will drive the need for additional core bandwidth, and discussions are beginning about network cores needing to support capacities measured in exabits per second (1Ebps = 1 billion Gbps) when 100Gbps broadband access becomes a reality. Bandwidth-on-demand-Next-generation networks must be able to pro- vide or provision bandwidth-on-demand, as much as is needed, when it is needed-unlike today's static subscription services. Bandwidth reservation-Next-generation networks must be able to offer reserved bandwidth, SO that when you know you will need a high-capacity service for streaming media, you can reserve the network resources SO that they are guaranteed at the time and place that you need them. Mind you, the major application for reserved bandwidth is videoconferencing; for other applications, most people don't plan ahead. Support of isochronous traffic-Isochronous traffic is time-bounded infor- mation that must be transferred within a specific time frame, and it there- fore has a low tolerance for delay and loss. Next-Generation Networks and Convergence Agnostic platforms-Agnostic devices support multiple data protocols (e.g., IP, Frame Relay, ATM, MPLS) and traffic types (e.g., voice, data, and video), SO that all traffic can be aggregated and administered at a single point. Support for unicasting and multicasting-In unicasting, streams from a single origination point go directly to a single destination point. In multi- casting, streams from a single origination point flow to multiple destination points. This reduces traffic redundancy by limiting the access to a selected group of users. QoS-As discussed later in this chapter, next-generation networks must provide variable QoS parameters and ensure that those se