Verizon, Ciena and Juniper trial 400 Gigabit Ethernet

Verizon has sent a 400 Gigabit Ethernet signal over its network, carried using a 400-gigabit optical wavelength.

The trial’s goal was to demonstrate multi-vendor interoperability and in particular the interoperability of standardised 400 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) client signals.

Glenn Wellbrock“[400GbE] Interoperability with the client side has been the long pole in the tent - and continues to be,” says Glenn Wellbrock, director, optical transport network - architecture, design and planning at Verizon. “This was trial equipment, not generally-available equipment.” 

It is only the emergence of standardised modules - in this case, an IEEE 400GbE client-side interface specification - that allows multi-vendor interoperability, he says. 

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Verizon tips silicon photonics as a key systems enabler

Verizon's director of optical transport network architecture and design, Glenn Wellbrock, shares the operator’s thoughts regarding silicon photonics.

Part 3: An operator view

Glenn Wellbrock is upbeat about silicon photonics’ prospects. Challenges remain, he says, but the industry is making progress. “Fundamentally, we believe silicon photonics is a real enabler,” he says. “It is the only way to get to the densities that we want.”

Glenn Wellbrock

Wellbrock adds that indium phosphide-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs) can also achieve such densities.

But there are many potential silicon photonics suppliers because of its relatively low barrier to entry, unlike indium phosphide. "To date, Infinera has been the only real [indium phosphide] PIC company and they build only for their own platform,” says Wellbrock.

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Verizon readies its metro for next-generation P-OTS

Verizon is preparing its metro network to carry significant amounts of 100 Gigabit traffic and has detailed its next-generation packet-optical transport system (P-OTS) requirements. The operator says technological advances in 100 Gig transmission and new P-OTS platforms - some yet to be announced - will help bring large scale 100 Gig deployments in the metro in the next year or so.

Glenn Wellbrock

The operator says P-OTS will be used for its metro and regional networks for spans of 400-600km. "That is where we have very dense networks," says Glenn Wellbrock, director of optical transport network architecture and design at Verizon. "The amount of 100 Gig is going to be substantially higher than it was in long haul."

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Verizon on 100G+ optical transmission developments

Source: Gazettabyte

Feature: 100 Gig and Beyond. Part 1:

Verizon's Glenn Wellbrock discusses 100 Gig deployments and higher speed optical channel developments for long haul and metro. 

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Verizon plans coherent-optimised routes

Glenn Wellbrock, director of backbone network design at Verizon Business, was interviewed by gazettabyte as part of an upcoming feature on high-speed optical transmission.  Here are some highlights of what he shared. The topics will be expanded upon in the upcoming feature.

 "Next-gen lines will be coherent only"

 Glenn Wellbrock, Verizon Business

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