22 May 2012

Pacnet and Infinera first to demo 500Gb/s optical super-channels in Asia

Infinera Corp of Sunnyvale, CA, USA, a vertically integrated manufacturer of digital optical network systems incorporating its own indium phosphide-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs), has announced the completion of a collaborative effort demonstrating the transmission of more than 3Tb/s of capacity over 4500km of the C2C network of Hong Kong- and Singapore-based communications provider Pacnet. Infinera says that this marks another demonstration highlighting application of its 500Gb/s PIC technology to ultra-long-haul subsea super-channels.

The testing was conducted with Infinera’s DTN-X platform (which began shipping this quarter) and also demonstrated the ability to use FlexCoherent technology to software select the modulation format in order to optimize fiber capacity and reach.

Pacnet owns and operates the leading pan-Asian submarine cable network, which touches 21 cable landing stations and extends from India to the USA. At the heart of this network is EAC-C2C, Asia’s largest privately owned submarine fiber-optic cable network, which spans 36,800km and serves customers globally.

“We are impressed with Infinera’s DTN-X platform delivering 500Gb/s FlexCoherent super-channels and integrated OTN switching without compromise,” comments Pacnet’s CEO Bill Barney. “This successful test with Infinera demonstrates that Pacnet’s network can scale up with the industry’s latest high-speed optical technologies to deliver faster services,” he adds.

“Long-haul-capable 500Gb/s super-channels are critical for carrier networks, especially in submarine applications such as Pacnet,” says Infinera’s CEO Tom Fallon. “The real value of Infinera’s DTN-X goes well beyond its sheer size and bandwidth efficiency,” he adds. “The true value is its ability to future proof our customer’s most valuable asset, their fiber infrastructure, so they can continue to flexibly grow their network to accommodate wherever their customer demand takes them.”

Infinera has developed super-channels embedded with FlexCoherent technology, and claims to be the first to demonstrate super-channels based on 500Gb/s PICs. A super-channel is a large unit of optical capacity created by combining multiple optical carriers into a single managed entity, so that optical networks can scale capacity without scaling operational cost and complexity. Infinera says that super-channels based on PICs enable operators to simply provision 500Gb/s of capacity with a single operational maneuver; FlexCoherent technology allows operators to optimize transmission performance across a range of applications using multiple software-programmable modulation formats. The DTN-X also offers integrated OTN (optical transport network) switching without compromise and - married with an automated GMPLS control plane - delivers Bandwidth Virtualization, which ensures that optical channels are efficiently utilized and enables service providers to rapidly deploy new services.

Tags: Infinera 500Gb/s optical super-channels

Visit: www.pacnet.com

Visit: www.infinera.com