FEBRUARY 28, 2007 -- Israeli access and transport equipment provider ECI Telecom Ltd. (search for ECI Telecom) says it has demonstrated the industry's first successful 43-Gbit/sec transmission over 1,000 km via a 10-degree, 50-GHz channel-spaced wavelength-selective switch (WSS) reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM). According to the company, the technology—demonstrated on ECI's XDM all range ROADM platform—will enable carriers to deploy a cost-effective solution for high-capacity reconfigurable networks.
The continued growth of IP traffic, fueled by new triple-play delivery and higher-bandwidth business data services, drives carriers to increase the capacity of their IP core network as well as that of the underlying DWDM network, by scaling up the router line speeds and the subsequent DWDM signals from 10 to 40 Gbits/sec. This migration is smooth once carriers are able to add these new 40-Gbit/sec services to the existing 10-Gbit/sec DWDM networks. These networks are typically 50-GHz spaced, use Optical Transport Hierarchy (OTH) as standard line rates, and are increasingly reconfigurable through the implementation of multidegree WSS ROADMs (search for multidegree ROADM). Finding the optimal 40-Gbit/sec modulation format that can offer both high quality of service for long-distance transmission as well as compatibility with 50-GHz spaced filters is considered to be a significant challenge, the company maintains.
ECI's answer to the challenge involves using bandwidth-tolerant 43-Gbit/sec modulation formats. The demonstration showed that these modulation formats enable crossing of up to 1,000 km through 50-GHz spaced WSS ROADMs, while maintaining high noise tolerance, similar to that of 10-Gbit/sec signals. The company says its XDM offering allows carriers to build reconfigurable ROADM-based networks with maximum capacity of 80 channels × 40 Gbits/sec (or 3.2 Tbits/sec) and distances suitable for metro, regional, and long-haul applications.
"Carriers worldwide are currently deploying ROADMs in their metro and core networks, and they are looking to gradually introduce 40-Gbit/sec services," says Michael Howard, principal analyst at Infonetics Research. "This demonstration by ECI shows that there is a cost-effective and forecast-tolerant answer to this demand."
"ECI's solution of combining 40 Gbits/sec with multidegree ROADMs and 50-GHz spacing answers our customers' immediate needs and will take them well into the next decade," claims Eyal Shaked, general manager, Transport Networking Division, and executive vice president of ECI Telecom.
ECI will be presenting details about this demonstration and its results at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference & Exposition and the National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC) in Anaheim, CA, during a presentation on March 28.
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