News Article
Infinera customers deploy over one petabit/s transmission
The firm's long-haul super-channel technology utilise indium phosphide PIC technology
Infinera, provider of Intelligent Transport Networks, has announced that its customers have deployed more than one petabit per second of super-channel transmission capacity in live networks globally.
Infinera says it was the first to ship 500 gigabit per second (Gb/s) long-haul super-channels commercially as the foundation of the Intelligent Transport Network architecture in 2012. Today, nearly two years later, the firm says it remains the only company in the industry delivering volume shipments of super-channels into production networks.
The Infinera Intelligent Transport Network features the Infinera DTN-X packet-optical transport networking platform, delivering 500 Gb/s super-channels based on the commercially deployed large scale Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs). The platform features InP PICs.
In 2013, Infinera announced the second generation of super-channels enhanced with Soft Decision Forward Error Correction (SD-FEC) to increase transmission range. Recently Infinera announced its third generation super-channel line cards that support flexible grid operation based on the new ITU-T G.694.1 frequency grid.
The optical performance of these super-channels offers service providers long-haul transmission technology that delivers scalable, capacity without compromising on optical reach. Infinera's super-channels deliver long haul reach of up to 4,500 km. They use Polarisation Multiplexed (PM) QPSK modulation that supports up to 9.5Tb/s on a single pair of fibres.
For ultra-long haul and submarine reach, Infinera's FlexCoherent modulation capability allows the line card to be switched into PM-BPSK mode, where spans of over 9,500 km are deployed in production today.
The operational scalability of super-channels was demonstrated last year when a team from Infinera and DANTE, operator of the GÉANT pan-European Research and Education network backbone, achieved an official Guinness World Record for the fastest provisioning of 8 Tb/s of capacity on production route between Hamburg and Amsterdam based on Infinera super-channels.
Infinera is continuing to enhance its super-channel technology with new solutions simplifying operations via multi-layer automation of Intelligent Transport Networks.
The firm recently announced enhancements that include the super-channel CDC FlexROADM (colourless, directionless and contentionless reconfigurable optical add drop multiplexer) and the unified Layer 1 and Layer 0 control plane, including support for the emerging IETF standard for Spectrum Switched Optical Networks extensions to Generalised MPLS.
"From its introduction of the DTN-X, Infinera recognised the opportunity to offer an economically disruptive product just as the mass market for 100G transport took off," says Rick Talbot, Principal Analyst, Optical Infrastructure at Current Analysis.
"The milestone achievement not only validates the vendor's plans to play a leading role in that market, with sales to operators of all sizes, including Tier 1s, but it also confirms the market's appetite for long haul super-channels, whose economics depended on the implementation of the 500G Photonic Integrated Circuit," he adds.
"Infinera continues to lead through innovation in the optical transport industry," says David Welch, President, Infinera. "Our customers have now deployed more than a petabit per second of Infinera's super-channels in production, demonstrating that our PIC-based, single card 500Gb/s super-channel solution is preferred by service providers globally to scale their networks while minimising operations costs."
Infinera says it was the first to ship 500 gigabit per second (Gb/s) long-haul super-channels commercially as the foundation of the Intelligent Transport Network architecture in 2012. Today, nearly two years later, the firm says it remains the only company in the industry delivering volume shipments of super-channels into production networks.
The Infinera Intelligent Transport Network features the Infinera DTN-X packet-optical transport networking platform, delivering 500 Gb/s super-channels based on the commercially deployed large scale Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs). The platform features InP PICs.
In 2013, Infinera announced the second generation of super-channels enhanced with Soft Decision Forward Error Correction (SD-FEC) to increase transmission range. Recently Infinera announced its third generation super-channel line cards that support flexible grid operation based on the new ITU-T G.694.1 frequency grid.
The optical performance of these super-channels offers service providers long-haul transmission technology that delivers scalable, capacity without compromising on optical reach. Infinera's super-channels deliver long haul reach of up to 4,500 km. They use Polarisation Multiplexed (PM) QPSK modulation that supports up to 9.5Tb/s on a single pair of fibres.
For ultra-long haul and submarine reach, Infinera's FlexCoherent modulation capability allows the line card to be switched into PM-BPSK mode, where spans of over 9,500 km are deployed in production today.
The operational scalability of super-channels was demonstrated last year when a team from Infinera and DANTE, operator of the GÉANT pan-European Research and Education network backbone, achieved an official Guinness World Record for the fastest provisioning of 8 Tb/s of capacity on production route between Hamburg and Amsterdam based on Infinera super-channels.
Infinera is continuing to enhance its super-channel technology with new solutions simplifying operations via multi-layer automation of Intelligent Transport Networks.
The firm recently announced enhancements that include the super-channel CDC FlexROADM (colourless, directionless and contentionless reconfigurable optical add drop multiplexer) and the unified Layer 1 and Layer 0 control plane, including support for the emerging IETF standard for Spectrum Switched Optical Networks extensions to Generalised MPLS.
"From its introduction of the DTN-X, Infinera recognised the opportunity to offer an economically disruptive product just as the mass market for 100G transport took off," says Rick Talbot, Principal Analyst, Optical Infrastructure at Current Analysis.
"The milestone achievement not only validates the vendor's plans to play a leading role in that market, with sales to operators of all sizes, including Tier 1s, but it also confirms the market's appetite for long haul super-channels, whose economics depended on the implementation of the 500G Photonic Integrated Circuit," he adds.
"Infinera continues to lead through innovation in the optical transport industry," says David Welch, President, Infinera. "Our customers have now deployed more than a petabit per second of Infinera's super-channels in production, demonstrating that our PIC-based, single card 500Gb/s super-channel solution is preferred by service providers globally to scale their networks while minimising operations costs."
