Nokia’s PSE-2s delivers 400 gigabit on a wavelength

Nokia has unveiled what it claims is the first commercially announced coherent transport system to deliver 400 gigabits of data on a single wavelength. Using multiple 400-gigabit wavelengths across the C-band, 35 terabits of data can be transmitted.

Four hundred gigabit transmission over a single carrier is enabled using Nokia’s second-generation programmable Photonic Service Engine coherent processor, the PSE2, part of several upgrades to Nokia's flagship PSS 1830 family of packet-optical transport platforms.

Kyle Hollasch“One thing that is clear is that performance will have a key role to play in optics for a long time to come, including distance, capacity per fiber, and density,” says Sterling Perrin, senior analyst at Heavy Reading.

This limits the appeal of the so-called “white box” trend for many applications in optics, he says: “We will continue to see proprietary advances that boost performance in specific ways and which gain market traction with operators as a result”.

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BT makes plans for continued traffic growth in its core

Briefing: DWDM developments

Part 1

Kevin Smith: “A lot of the work we are doing with the trials have demonstrated we can scale our networks gracefully rather than there being a brick wall of a problem.”

BT is confident that its core network will accommodate the expected IP traffic growth over the next decade. Traffic in BT’s core is growing at between 35 and 40 percent annually, compared to the global average growth rate of 20 to 30 percent. BT attributes its higher growth to the rollout of fibre-based broadband across the UK.

The telco is deploying 100-gigabit wavelengths in high-traffic areas of its network. “These are key sites where we're running out of wavelengths such that we need to implement higher-speed ones,” says Kevin Smith, research leader for BT’s transport networks. The operator is now trialling 200-gigabit wavelengths using polarisation multiplexing, 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (PM-16QAM).

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Infinera targets the metro cloud

Infinera has styled its latest Cloud Xpress product used to connect data centres as a stackable platform, similar to how servers and storage systems are built. The development is another example of how the rise of the data centre is influencing telecoms.

"There is a drive in the industry that is coming from the data centre world that is starting to slam into the telecom world," says Stuart Elby, Infinera's senior vice president of cloud network strategy and technology.

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Infinera introduces flexible grid 500G super-channel ROADM

Infinera has unveiled a flexible grid, reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) to complement its DTN-X optical networking platform.

An example showing the impact of a 500G super-channel ROADM node. Source: Infinera

"The FlexROADM will open up the Tier-1 operators in a way Infinera has not been able to do before," says Dana Cooperson, vice president, network infrastructure at market research firm, Ovum. "The DTN-X was necessary but not sufficient; the ROADM is the last piece."

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OFC/NFOEC 2012 industry reflections - Part 1

The recent OFC/NFOEC show, held in Los Angeles, had a strong vendor presence. Gazettabyte spoke with Infinera's Dave Welch, chief strategy officer and executive vice president, about his impressions of the show, capacity challenges facing the industry, and the importance of the company's photonic integrated circuit technology in light of recent competitor announcements.

OFC/NFOEC reflections: Part 1 

"I need as much fibre capacity as I can get, but I also need reach" 

Dave Welch, Infinera

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Reflections and predictions: 2011 & 2012 - Part 1

Gazettabyte has asked industry analysts, CEOs, executives and commentators to reflect on the last year and comment on developments they most anticipate for 2012.

"For 2012, the macroeconomy is likely to dominate any other developments"

Martin Geddes, telecom consultant @martingeddes

Sometimes the important stuff is slow-burning: we're seeing a continued decline in the traditional network equipment providers, and the rise in Genband, Acme, Sonus and Metaswitch in their place. Smaller, leaner, and more used to serving Tier 2 and Tier 3 operators and enterprise players and their lower cost structures. 

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High fives: 5 Terabit OTN switching and 500 Gig super-channels.

Infinera has announced a core network platform that combines Optical Transport Network (OTN) switching with dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) transport. "We are looking at a system that integrates two layers of the network," says Mike Capuano, vice president of corporate marketing at Infinera. 

"This is 100Tbps of non-blocking switching, all functioning as one system. You just can't do that with merchant silicon."

Mike Capuano, Infinera 

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