ZTE displays 400-Gbps and 1-Tbps DWDM prototype

[UPDATED] ZTE Corp. (H share stock code: 0763.HK/A share stock code: 000063.SZ) is showing off what it asserts is the first multi-application 400-Gbps/1-Tbps DWDM prototype device at the 16th WDM & Next Generation Optical Networking Forum in Monaco this week.

The device can perform seven network applications via a variety of modulation formats, ZTE asserts. For example, the DWDM prototype offers a multi-subcarrier orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) 400G/1T approach for ultra-long-haul applications. It also can serve metro applications via a 16-QAM approach, or long-haul applications as a Nyquist WDM platform.

At 100 Gbps, ZTE the DWDM/Optical Transport Network (OTN) system supports C-band 80-wavelength applications via PM-QPSK and coherent detection and soft-decision forward error correction (FEC).

“ZTE is fully prepared to deploy solutions, products, and services for the large-scale commercial global rollout of 100G and ultra-100G,” said ZTE Bearer Network Product Line General Manager Chen Yufei.

[UPDATE] Both Ciena Corp. and Alcatel-Lucent have announced their plans to support 400-Gbps operation by the end of this year (see "Ciena's third generation of Wavelogic processors supports 400G" and "Alcatel-Lucent makes 400-Gbps play"). [Note: Our earlier statement that neither company has publicly demonstrated their capabilities was not correct. Alcatel-Lucent, for example, displayed its prototype at OFC/NFOEC this past March and is currently showing it off at the WDM & Next Generation Optical Networking event in Monaco. Deutsche Telekom has conducted trials of the technology as well.] Huawei also demonstrated a 400-Gbps protoype at OFC/NFOEC (see "Huawei offers next-gen tech guidance at OFC/NFOEC 2012" on the Lightwave Channel), while Ericsson demonstrated 1-Tbps transmission at the same event (see “Ericsson demos terabit transmission”).