Nokia Siemens Networks says it will deploy a 5,000-km optical network for China Unicom that initially will support data rates as high as 40 Gbps per wavelength. However, the network will be 100-Gbps ready across the seven provinces of Chongqing, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi.
Nokia Siemens Networks will provide its hiT 7300 DWDM system, with 40-Gbps transponders. The transponders use coherent polarized-multiplexed QPSK (CP-QPSK), the system house’s version of DP-QPSK with coherent detection. The underlying technology for the CP-QPSK 40-Gbps modules came from CoreOptics, now part of Cisco (see “OFC/NFOEC Reporter's Notebook, Day 4” and “Cisco to acquire CoreOptics”). Use of the technology obviates the need for dispersion compensating fiber, which improves latency, Nokia Siemens Networks says.
Sources at Nokia Siemens Networks recently told Lightwave that they expect to have 100-Gbps technology in carrier trials late this summer, with general availability to follow in the second half of this year (see “ClariPhy not a direct replacement for CoreOptics at Nokia Siemens Networks”).
Besides the immediate data rate upgrade and the potential step up to 100 Gbps, the network design will reduce the number of sites and help control operational expenses (opex), according to the company. In addition to the hiT 7300 DWDM systems, Nokia Siemens Networks also will provide its network management system as well as network implementation, commissioning, and maintenance services.