nbn, the company responsible for roll out of Australia's multi-technology National Broadband Network, has conducted lab tests of next-generation 10G PON technology in Nokia's Melbourne, Australia, lab facility. The tests demonstrated single-fiber aggregate (upstream and downstream combined) transmission capacity of 102 Gbps as well as dynamic bandwidth provisioning.
The tests saw nbn and Nokia trial such 10-Gbps PON approaches as TWDM-PON/NG-PON2 and XGS-PON alongside current GPON. NG-PON2 supports symmetrical 10-Gbps transmission over each of multiple wavelengths (most commonly four in current systems), while XGS-PON offers single-wavelength 10-Gbps capabilities. As ITU-T specifications provide compatibility among NG-PON2, XGS-PON, and GPON, platform vendors such as Nokia can offer systems that will support all three architectures on the same fiber simultaneously.
This compatibility accounts for the 102-Gbps aggregate capacity demonstrated during the trials. Fully loaded, a four-wavelength NG-PON2 transmission would offer 40 Gbps downstream, XGS-PON would add 10 Gbps, and GPON would contribute 2.5 Gbps, for a total downstream capacity of 52.5 Gbps. In the upstream, 40 and 10 Gbps would again come from NG-PON2 and XGS-PON, respectively, while GPON would offer 1 Gbps for a total upstream capacity of 51 Gbps. The combined theoretical totals would equal 103.5 Gbps, slightly higher than the 102 Gbps reported. The 102 Gbps could be an approximation or the collaborators ran the GPON transmission at a symmetrical 1 Gbps.
"Our successful trial of NG-PON2 technology with Nokia is another example of our ongoing commitment to continually develop the capabilities and speed of the nbn network," asserted nbn CTO Dennis Steiger. "While we continue to deploy the nbn network at pace with over 2 million end-users now receiving nbn services and nearly 5 million able to order a service, we also have a very sharp focus on the future. The NG-PON2 trials we have conducted with Nokia have shown us the huge potential this very exciting technology has in terms of helping us deliver on our future bandwidth and capacity requirements."
Nokia has participated in the nbn project since before the effort switched from an all-fiber approach and Nokia purchased Alcatel-Lucent (see, for example, "Alcatel-Lucent to supply GPON gear for Australia’s National Broadband Network"). The government-mandated switch to a multi-technology approach has opened the door for Nokia and nbn to explore other next-generation broadband access technologies, including Nokia's XG.FAST (see "Australia's nbn sets fiber-to-the-curb deployments").
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