Coriant trials terabit superchannel over Australian NBN

March 13, 2014
NBN Co., the company responsible for rolling out Australia’s fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) backbone network, and optical transport systems vendor Coriant report the successful completion of a trial of terabit superchannel transmission over a 1066-km fiber-optic network in South East Queensland, Australia.

NBN Co., the company responsible for rolling out Australia’s fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) backbone network, and optical transport systems vendor Coriant report the successful completion of a trial of terabit superchannel transmission over a 1066-km fiber-optic network in South East Queensland, Australia.

The field trial was conducted on NBN Co.’s transit network using commercially available hardware and pre-commercial software, over the existing fiber that is currently being integrated into NBN Co’s transit network, Coriant says.

NBN Co’s transit network is built using established optical fiber on long-term leases from third-party carriers and DWDM equipment that provides connectivity from the access networks, including fiber and wireless, through to points of interconnect with NBN Co.’s wholesale customers.

Using commercial-grade Coriant hiT 7300 DWDM system hardware, including FlexiGrid technology, the trial demonstrated NBN Co.’s ability to efficiently scale its network as end-user traffic demands in Australia increase, Coriant says.

FlexiGrid technology is based on an adaptive channel grid with wavelengths dynamically selected based on the data rate. By increasing channel density, FlexiGrid technology will enable NBN Co to maximize the use of the existing fiber-optic infrastructure, while maintaining network flexibility, resiliency and performance.

The trial demonstrated a terabit superchannel transmission in a 369-GHz grid over the 1066 km. Coriant says the trial showed better than 35% improvement in spectral efficiency, which significantly increases the overall capacity of the system.

The trial also demonstrated the flexible allocation of the superchannel by placing it in three separate locations within the C-band to maximize use of existing fiber resources. This capability, in conjunction with the improvements in spectral efficiency, provides a maximum theoretical transmission capacity of 13 Tbps on existing hardware and fiber over a distance greater than 1000 km, the company asserts.

The analysis of the results from the trial in conjunction with equipment test results showed that a calculated distance of 1600 km could be achieved.

Gary McLaren, NBN Co’s chief technology officer said, “We are pleased with the results of the trial with Coriant over our transit network. It highlights how established backbone infrastructure can be upgraded with sophisticated optical and electronic equipment to provide extra capacity for the future needs of the National Broadband Network.

“This proof point highlights that the existing transit network is robust and capable, as we rollout a mixture of fiber-to-the-x technologies being designed to provide access to voice and broadband services faster, cheaper and more efficiently to Australian homes and businesses no matter their location across the country. As high-bandwidth applications and the growth of internet usage drive increased demand for network capacity, the ease of upgrading to higher transmission rates in our transit network will enable us to continue to deliver a reliable and high-quality broadband experience for our customers.”

Coriant is a strategic supplier of optical transmission equipment and management systems to NBN Co. (see “NBN Co taps Nokia Siemens Networks for Australian NBN DWDM backbone”) The company also provides specialized optical networking support services including design, logistics, installation, commissioning, local pre-deployment system testing and maintenance.

The test equipment and associated support for the trial was provided by JDSU Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU; TSX: JDU).

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