Windstream Wholesale and Cisco demonstrate 1 Tbps wavelength over 1,100 km
Windstream Wholesale and Cisco conducted a trial where they transmitted a 1 Tbps wavelength over a 1,100-kilometer link across multiple routes on Windstream’s Intelligent Converged Optical Network (ICON).
For the trial, Windstream Wholesale leveraged Cisco’s NCS 1014 C-Band 2.4T WDM Transponder Line Card with Acacia’s Coherent Interconnect Module (CIM) 8, a 1.2Tbps faceplate pluggable coherent solution.
Leveraging Jannu, Acacia’s 8th-generation digital signal processor (DSP) ASIC, the CIM 8 is designed to deliver high performance with single carrier 1.2 Tbps operation. The CIM 8’s capabilities were demonstrated over a third-party line system (150Ghz Channel).
The trial deployments achieved wavelength transmissions across key Windstream ICON routes:
- Roundtrip transport of 1Tbps over 1,100 km from Miami to Jacksonville, Florida
- Transport of 800G over 1,387 km of mixed fiber from Miami through Tallahassee, Florida, to Atlanta, Georgia
- Roundtrip transport of 600G over 2,774 km from Miami, Florida, to Atlanta, Georgia
“We developed ICON to provide multi-vendor flexibility and seamlessly integrate the newest optimized technology into our disaggregated network,” said John Nishimoto, Windstream Wholesale's senior vice president of products, marketing, and strategy. “Achievements like this reinforce our 800G wave strategy and offer improved design and network planning options among our 100G and 400G solutions.”
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Windstream Wholesale pushes new coherent optical boundaries
Windstream’s recent trial results with Cisco and Acacia represent an ongoing collaboration to prove the utility of emerging coherent optical technology in a production network.
Since 2021, Windstream Wholesale has worked with the two optical companies to push the boundaries on coherent optical technologies:
February 2021: The provider established a 400G ZR+ live network record, successfully deploying a 400G single-wavelength transmission over 1,027 km between Phoenix and Los Angeles using ZR+ digital coherent optics technology.
April 2022: Windstream Wholesale established 400G links in a production environment over a 1,027 km route, illustrating the interoperability of QSFP-DD form factor ZR+ pluggable modules from Cisco and II-VI Incorporated, now Coherent Corp.
March 2023: In a live network trial, Windstream’s ICON successfully deployed a 1 Tbps wavelength over 541 km between Dallas and Tulsa. The circuit was looped to establish an 800G route over a live network measuring 1,082 km, setting a leading benchmark using digital coherent optics technology.
About the Author
Sean BuckleySean Buckley
Sean is the Editor-in-Chief of Lightwave. He establishes and executes Lightwave's editorial strategy across its website, email newsletters, events, and other information products. Before coming to Lightwave in July 2023, he served as editor of Broadband Communities. Earlier, he served as senior editor of FierceTelecom and the editor of the former Telecommunications Magazine. He got his start in the optical industry in 1998 when he became the editor of enterprise and optical networks at Information Gatekeepers. He has a BA in English from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and lives in Dracut, Mass, with his wife, two sons, and his cat, Dove.
