BASKING RIDGE, NJVerizon and Nokia Siemens Networks have taken a step closer to being able to transmit commercial traffic at a speed of 100 Gb/s. The two companies carried out a successful 100-Gb/s transmission on a single wavelength for more than 1040 km over field fiber. In doing so, they set a new distance record while demonstrating better performance than conventional transmission.
The field trial was conducted on optical fiber on the Verizon network in north Dallas. It successfully proved that 100-Gb/s signals can be simultaneously transported with 10-Gb/s and 40-Gb/s signals on the same system with superior results. Of course, these results are derived from advanced optical techniques. Compared to conventional systems, the signal was carried over ultra-long distances at high data rates with significantly better chromaticdispersion and polarization-mode-dispersion tolerances. This achievement was enabled by the Nokia Siemens hiT 7500 ultra-long-haul, dense-wavelength- division-multiplexing (DWDM) platform combined with multi-level modulation, polarization multiplexing, and coherent detection.
The field trial also demonstrated that 100-Gb/s traffic can be simultaneously transported with any mix of 10 Gb/s and 40 Gb/s on a typical 80-channel ultra-long-haul DWDM system. As a result, current network configurations can support capacity upgrades to 100 Gb/s per channel on existing routes over similar distances without modification to the physical network. In doing so, they provide quicker, more cost-effective implementation.
Like Verizon's previous 100-Gb/s trial in late 2007, this field trial carried the 100-Gb/s signal on a single wavelength. It therefore demonstrated true 100-Gb/s throughput in a serial configuration. In this field trial, the modulation technology enabled an even higher total system capacity of 8 Tb/s.