Infinera sends 800G over 950 km in live network, touts increased appeal of 800G

Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) says it was able to transmit a single-wavelength 800-Gbps transmission at 96 Gbaud over 950 km of a live network of what the company termed “a major North American network operator.” The ability to transmit 800G over such distances using the sixth generation of Infinera’s Infinite Capacity Engine (ICE6) opens the door for more rapid and ubiquitous use of such transmission rates, a company spokesman said.

The network trial news follows Infinera’s announcement earlier this month that it had sent a similar 800G transmission across 800 km of Corning’s high-end TXF optical fiber in a lab setting (see “Infinera, Corning drive 800G wavelength 800 km using ICE6 coherent engine”). According to Rob Shore, senior vice president of marketing at Infinera, the lab tests only reached 800 km because that was the amount of fiber Corning had provided. (More lab tests with a greater amount of TXF fiber are planned, Shore said.) With the possibility of stretching farther than 800 km, Infinera sought a nationwide network operator using standard fiber to see how well the ICE6 would perform in the field. The 950-km result came with the ICE6 transmission running through a third-party line system over G.652 fiber, Shore said. A production sled with the ICE6 – which Shore notes can enable two 800-Gbps transmissions – was loaded into Groove (GX) Series platforms for the trial.

Shore said Infinera has a few other field trials in the works (although one was in Italy, where the effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic may slow the exercise) ahead of making the ICE6 capabilities commercially available on the Groove in the second half of this year. Other Infinera platforms, starting with the DTN-X, will be equipped with ICE6 capabilities next year.

At least one of the trials will see 800G pushed through a metro network with multiple ROADM hops, Shore revealed. The company also plans to test the performance of the multi-rate ICE6 at 600 and 400 Gbps; Shore says the company has already demonstrated 600G transmission at distances greater than the 1600 km Ciena has announced in collaboration with Comcast (see “Comcast, Ciena transmit 600-Gbps wavelength 1600 km”).

While some observers have suggested that the main initial applications of 800G-capable systems will be at lower transmission rates, particularly 400G, Shore commented that such statements are based on the comparatively short reach of previously announced high-end coherent engine field trials. The ability to approach 1000 km makes 800G applicable to approximately 40% of network applications, he stated.

Shore said Infinera is able to achieve such distances through a combination of tight digital and analog integration, the 96-Gbaud transmission capabilities, the use of Nyquist subcarriers, and the ability to optimize the performance and capacity of each of those subcarriers for a given application.

For related articles, visit the Network Design Topic Center.

For more information on high-speed transmissions systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.

To stay abreast of fiber network deployments, subscribe to Lightwave’s Service Providers and Datacom/Data Center newsletters.