Infinera demos superchannel SD-FEC with TeliaSonera International Carrier

Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN) says it has demonstrated the ability to double capacity on a production route in TeliaSonera International Carrier's (TSIC) North America terrestrial fiber-optic network using what it claims is the world's first superchannel implementation of soft-decision forward-error correction (SD-FEC), featured on the Infinera DTN-X platform. Infinera also announced that the SD-FEC capability is now generally available on the DTN-X platform.

The verification test was performed on TSIC's Houston-to-Phoenix fiber link and confirms the ability of Infinera's SD-FEC technology to double the available transmission capacity on this network link, the systems vendor says. SD-FEC is an advanced error detection and correction technology that enables optical transport networks to deliver error-free digital information at extremely high data rates and over very long distances, offering networks greater capacity and reach without the need to regenerate the signal en route.

Earlier this year, Infinera demonstrated its third-generation FlexCoherent Processor, integrated with SD-FEC and 500-Gbps photonic integrated circuits (PICs), in a trial that doubled capacity on a submarine cable link from Hawaii to California (see “Telstra Global, Infinera demo soft-decision FEC over Hawaii to California submarine link”). The current announcement shows that those benefits can also be delivered in a terrestrial environment.

"As network operators face increasing capacity requirements, they continue to seek solutions at the optical layer that add features and services to increase reach and capacity for 100G and beyond," said Ron Kline, principal analyst, network infrastructure at Ovum. "Service providers are continuously looking to make better use of their network assets so an SD-FEC enabled 500G superchannel that nearly doubles the reach of the current system will really resonate with large network operators."

TeliaSonera announced its selection of Infinera as its U.S. optical transport systems vendor in 2009 (see "TeliaSonera taps Infinera for US network"). The two companies previously partnered to test terabit capacity provision on the DTN-X (see "Infinera, TeliaSonera complete terabit field trial").

Mattias Fridström, head of technology at TSIC, said, "We operate one of the world's most extensive fiber backbones across North America and Europe including Russia. We operate networks in a variety of environments and conditions; Infinera has proved with us that SD-FEC can double the capacity of key routes on our network."

Infinera notes that DTN-X networks have been deployed in 30 countries around the world, representing hundreds of superchannels activated into production.

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