Huawei introduces second-gen SD-FEC on KPN International's 100G network

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. and KPN International say they have successfully introduced second generation soft-decision forward error-correction (SD-FEC) technology on the operator’s pan-European 100G WDM backbone. The fiber-optic network was originally planned to span 1400 km between Amsterdam and Paris via Germany, but was later extended by 300 km at the tail ends due to what the two parties describe as “a surplus of transmission capacity.”

SD-FEC offers improved performance over hard-decision forward error correction (HD-FEC) technology for optical transport and has become a cornerstone of the widespread commercial use of 100G. Huawei says that its use of optical digital signal processing (DSP) modules – which set the stage for 400G – achieves WDM transmission with lower impairment penalties and power consumption per bit. The second-generation SD-FEC system will support a transmission distance of 4000 km, which is 1000 km further than Huawei’s first-generation SD-FEC system. The result is a 30% improvement in transmission performance, the company claims.

The use of Huawei’s second-generation SD FEC system on KPN International’s network demonstrates the maturity of its new 100G and 400G-ready module, Huawei contends. KPN International is one of the early adopters of optical transport technologies, and its pan-European WDM backbone network – which was deployed by Huawei in 2008 and the first to be upgraded to coherent 100G by Huawei in 2011 – is one of the largest and most advanced WDM networks in Europe.

Huawei says it has helped build more than 90 commercial 100G networks for operators worldwide. According to Ovum, Huawei ranked number one in the global optical network, WDM/OTN, and 100G/40G network markets as of Q1 2013 (see “Annualized 100G hardware revenues top $1B says Ovum”)

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