AT&T completes 400GbE first phase trial, ready for OpenROADM phase

AT&T says it has completed first phase of a multi-phase field trial initiative of 400 Gigabit Ethernet (400GbE) transmission. The initial trial saw the company use a software-defined networking (SDN) controller to create a 400GbE service between New York and Washington, DC, alongside live traffic.

In addition to setting up the 400GbE link, the SDN controller also rerouted the service to a second path to simulate the response to a network failure. The communications services provider says it now believes its nationwide network is ready for what it calls "next-generation speeds." In an announcement last fall touting the trial, AT&T indicated it would use optical transport equipement from Coriant in this phase of its trials (see "AT&T to trial 400 Gigabit Ethernet in 2017").

"Our approach to roll out the next generation of Ethernet speeds is working. We continue to see enormous data growth on our network, fueled by video. And this will help with that growth," said Rick Hubbard, senior vice president, AT&T Network Product Management.

AT&T is now ready to move to the second phase, which involves running 400GbE traffic over a metro network enabled via the Tier 1 service provider's OpenROADM initiative (see "AT&T field tests Open ROADM technology"). The third phase will see the incorporation of an open router platform, which AT&T described as a disaggregated router platform that uses merchant silicon and open source software.

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