MARCH 8, 2010 -- Verizon, Juniper Networks, NEC Corporation of America, and Finisar Corp. say they have successfully completed what they tout as the first field trial of 100-Gbps optical fiber transmission to use real traffic while applying standards-based optics end-to-end as well as a 100G native router interface.
Following Verizon's announcement in December 2009 of 100G deployment on a portion of its European network (see "Verizon plans more 100G and 40G deployments"), this 100G trial -- which occurred on February 25 -- used emerging network technology to transmit data over a 1,520-km optically amplified section of the Verizon network in the north Dallas area. The companies assert this multivendor demonstration validates the maturity of the standard supporting 100G transfer rates, which is scheduled to be ratified by the IEEE and ITU-T in June.
"With IP traffic on the Verizon network growing year over year, 100G is critical to continuing to satisfy customers' demands, which drive the capacity requirements of our core network," said Mark Wegleitner, senior vice president of technology at Verizon. "Verizon has already deployed 100G on a segment of our European network, and trials such as this allow us to refine relevant technologies and push 100G closer to widespread deployment."
This Verizon trial demonstrated end-to-end traffic flow, including live video traffic, through a 100G interface on the Juniper T1600 Core Router to the NEC SpectralWave DWDM system, which was equipped with 100G real-time coherent transponders. The connection between the router and the DWDM system was achieved through an IEEE standard-compliant 100GBase-LR4 client interface, using 100G CFP optical transceiver modules from Finisar Corp.
Verizon has conducted several trials of 100G technology, dating back to November 2007 when it conducted the industry's first field trial of 100G optical network transmission on a live system. In 2008 Verizon announced two trials, one setting a new record for 100G optical-transmission distance and another validating 100G signal quality when compared with standard 10G signals. In December 2009, Verizon deployed the first 100G ultra-long-haul optical system in its European network.
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