Terabit fiber optic speeds just came closer to reality

Sure, researchers have been showing off terabit data speeds in fiber optics for years, but they've seldom been practical. That exotic technology may work over long distances, but it can quickly fall apart when you throw typical network loads in the m...

Huawei tests 2Tbps data transmission over Vodafone’s German network, calls it a ‘first’

Huawei notches 2Tbps data transmission over Vodafone's network in Germany, calls it a 'world's first'

As terabit speeds go, Huawei's latest fiber feat falls on the lower end of recent industry achievements. At 2Tbps, the Chinese company's field test -- one it's hailing as a "world's first" -- comes nowhere close to the 100Tbps-plus experiments conducted by the likes of NEC and NICT. But top speed isn't entirely the point here; real-world performance is. By leveraging existing fiber infrastructure owned by Vodafone across portions of lower Germany, Huawei was able to successfully demonstrate two record-breaking, 200G transmissions: one spanning 1,500km and the other 3,325km over an "ultra-long-haul solution." To give you a bit of perspective on just what sort of data haul theoretical networks of this kind can achieve, Huawei claims this ultra-fast connection is "equivalent to downloading 40 HD videos in one second." Impressive, indeed. But don't go ditching that TWC wideband or FiOS contract just yet. While it's nice to know this tech exists, practical deployment is still a ways off. Until then, gigabit's the buzz word.

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Huawei and Vodafone Complete World's First 2 Tbit/s WDM Field Trial


Shenzhen, China, 24 January 2013:

Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology solutions provider, and Vodafone, one of the world's largest mobile communications companies, today announced the successful trial of 2 Tbit/s optical fiber transmission technologies on Vodafone's live network. The field trial achieved 2 Tbit/s transmission capabilities of over 3,325km. This provides a data highway capacity 20-times higher than current commercially deployed 100Gbit/s systems and has a speed equivalent to downloading 40 HD videos in one second. This marks an important step forward for optical transport technology advances beyond 100G.


Traffic on carrier backbone networks is growing exponentially, driving global momentum for commercial 100G deployments and attracting attention on optical transport beyond 100G. Riding on cutting-edge technologies such as flex oDSP, super SD-FEC, and flex modulation format, this field trial achieved a record-breaking transmission distance of 1,500 km using a super-channel PDM-16QAM-based high spectral efficiency solution, and a second record-breaking transmission distance of 3,325 km using a super-channel Nyquist PDM-QPSK-based ultra-long-haul solution. Both transmissions were on a link with G.652 fibers and erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) without electrical regeneration. The link used in the trial was on Vodafone's backbone network, passing through a few cities across middle and south Germany.


"We are at the forefront of global 100G deployments, and have taken the lead in delivering key breakthroughs in technologies beyond 100G. Through collaboration with Vodafone and other leading international operators and customer-centric R&D, Huawei is always ready to build advanced optical networks for customers," said Jack Wang, president of Huawei's transport network product line.


To help customers optimize their overall technical architecture and adopt next-generation transport networks, Huawei conducted the world's first 2T WDM field trial and pan- European 400G field trial in 2012, and also unveiled a series of scientific research achievements in optical transmission. According to Ovum, Huawei ranks No. 1 in the WDM/OTN, 40G, 100G, and global optical network markets, as of Q3 2012.

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IEEE pushes for Ethernet standard between 400Gbps and 1Tbps, hopes to head off big data crunch

IEEE pushes for Ethernet standard between 400Gbps and 1Tbps, hopes to head off big data crunch

Ethernet might seem passé to those of us toting Ultrabooks, but it's important enough to provoke a crisis for internet providers and many of those who depend on high-speed computing networks for a living: based on the rises of streaming video and social networking, the IEEE is worried that many of those large-scale networks will need 10Tbps of total bandwidth just to avoid a logjam in 2020. To that end, the standards body has formed a Higher-Speed Ethernet Consensus group that's mulling a new, breakneck-speed format reaching either 400Gbps or 1Tbps, depending on whose approach you'd favor. Fight the urge to pick the 1Tbps option on instinct, however. Both options would depend on bonding multiple connections together, and the faster of the two formats could lead to some expensive and very ungainly cables if it's not handled well. A meeting is scheduled for late September in Geneva to at least begin hashing out the details. Although we won't be wiring our homes with terabit Ethernet anytime soon, the standard should come quickly enough that the Googles and Netflixes of the world can satisfy our data addictions for a good while longer.

[Image credit: Justin Marty, Flickr]

Continue reading IEEE pushes for Ethernet standard between 400Gbps and 1Tbps, hopes to head off big data crunch

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IEEE pushes for Ethernet standard between 400Gbps and 1Tbps, hopes to head off big data crunch originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Aug 2012 18:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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