JUNE 9, 2008 By Stephen Hardy -- Infinera (search for Infinera) has unveiled its second generation in-line platform, the ILS2. Thanks to a pair of new passive photonic integrated circuits (PICs), the system enables carriers using Infinera's Digital Transport Network (DTN) platform to set the stage for increased capacity, data rates, and reach.
The ILS2 will support up to 160 DWDM channels in the C-band at either 10- or 40-Gbit/sec rates and half that number at 100 Gbits/sec, according to Serge Melle, vice president of technical marketing at Infinera. Total per-fiber capacity featuring the DTN's future 100-Gbit/sec line rates will be 8 Tbits/sec.
The platform also will enable the transport of 10-Gbit/sec signals to 2,500 km. Melle acknowledged that the ILS2 will not enable 40- and 100-Gbit/sec signals to travel that far; he declined to speculate on the reach limitations at those two higher data rates.
The ILS2 also will offer optical express capabilities, enabling traffic that doesn't need to be dropped to continue to the next node without OEO conversion.
The new platform leverages a pair of new Infinera passive PICs. One device, a multi-wavelength multiplexer/demultiplexer, supports the 25-GHz channel spacings the ILS2 requires to accommodate 160 channels per fiber. The other PIC provides wavelength management. Both devices leverage the Hydex glass technology Infinera gained when it purchased Little Optics.
Infinera will use Raman amplification (a technology it picked up via the acquisition of Corvis Corp.'s assets) to provide the extended reach. Melle says the capability will enable the company to better address ultra-long-haul network requirements, including festoon networks. It also will enable older networks optimized for 1,300-nm operation to save money by employing "hut skipping" to decrease the number of nodes necessary to maintain services.
The ILS2 received kudos from Dana Cooperson, vice president of network infrastructure at research and analysis house Ovum. "The relative lack of market investment earlier this decade is threatening to jeopardize DWDM systems' 13-year success in enabling exponential declines in capital expenditure per bit per kilometer of network backbone capacity. Luckily, Infinera is one vendor that has stepped up investment in innovation to put the market back on the road to exponential improvements," she said. "The ILS2, together with the 400G PIC announced in February, widens Infinera's addressable market and maps out the company's strategy for scaling DWDM to the next level of economical backbone capacity."
The ILS2 system begins shipping this summer. Infinera will debut the ILS2 at next week's NXTcomm08 trade show.
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