OTN is a single network that is able to transport the different Ethernet applications as if they were on their own private network. The principle is: let the applications decide what the network should look like instead of adapting the application to the network. This unique feature is called SLAN or Segmented LAN.

When combining different applications on a single network, the network has to take care that there is no mutual interference between applications. Traditionally VLANs have been used to make a logical separation between application sub networks. However these VLANs don’t guarantee bandwidth availability.

Bandwidth Guarantee

The use of timeslots is a secure way to provide a guaranteed amount of bandwidth (SLAN) to each application, which makes the network deterministic. By means of a network management system a specific and configurable amount of bandwidth is dedicated to every individual service. The huge advantage of this is that the bandwidth is always available for the application and that there’s no bandwidth contention between the different applications. This also means that adding a new application to the network will have no impact on the performance of, for example, your SCADA system, which simplifies network planning and reduces project risk.