Pacnet and Infinera demo 500G optical superchannels in Asia

Pacnet and Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN) have completed a joint demonstration in which they transmitted more than 3 Tbps of optical capacity over 4,500 km of Pacnet’s C2C undersea network using Infinera’s photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and FlexCoherent superchannels.

Infinera is one of the first vendors to implement superchannels, and claims to be the first to demonstrate superchannels based on 500-Gbps photonic integrated circuits (PICs). A superchannel is a large unit of optical capacity created by combining multiple optical carriers into a single managed entity, so that optical networks can scale capacity without scaling operational cost and complexity (see "Superchannels to the rescue"). Superchannels based on PICs enable operators to simply provision 500 Gbps of capacity with a single operational maneuver.

The demonstration highlights the application of Infinera’s 500G superchannel technology to ultra-long-haul subsea communications. It also demonstrated the ability to use FlexCoherent technology to software select the modulation format to optimize fiber capacity and reach.

The test was conducted with Infinera’s DTN-X platform, which has begun shipping this quarter (see “Infinera debuts DTN-X packet-optical transport platform with 500G PIC, OTN/MPLS support”).

Pacnet owns and operates a major pan-Asian submarine cable network extending from India to the US and touching 21 cable landing stations. At the heart of this network is EAC-C2C, which spans 36,800 km.

“We are impressed with Infinera’s DTN-X platform delivering 500-Gbps FlexCoherent superchannels and integrated OTN switching without compromise,” said Bill Barney, Pacnet’s CEO. “This successful test with Infinera demonstrates that Pacnet’s network can scale up with the industry’s latest high-speed optical technologies to deliver faster services to our customers.”

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