Verizon, working with its vendor partner Cisco, recently concluded a trial where it carried 1.2 Tbps of data over a single wavelength on its metro Long Island, NY network.

The telco demonstrated how to transmit data over longer distances through more nodes by upgrading the optical to electrical conversion cards that manage the flow of customer data on fiber cables.

According to Verizon, this upgrade allows data traveling across its fiber network to travel farther and faster, leading to a better customer experience.

Focus on reliability, efficiency

Increasing data rates is only one part of the equation revealed during Verizon’s trial with Cisco. One of the additional benefits of the upgrade is higher reliability.

Cisco’s new optical technology reduces the need to regenerate the light signal (conversion to electrical and back to optical signals) along the path by compensating for the degradation of the light signal traveling through the fiber cable. 

This adds reliability and reduces cost per bit operating expense for more efficient network management.

The trial was conducted over Verizon’s live production network using Cisco’s NCS 1014 transceiver shelf and Acacia’s Coherent Interconnect Module 8 (CIM 8).  CIM 8 is Acacia’s 8th generation solution, an improved generation of silicon semiconductor chips with increased transistor density. The CIM 8 combines 5nm complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) digital processing and 140 Gbaud silicon photonics optics using advanced 3D packaging technology.

In the trial, a 1 Tbps single wavelength was transmitted over the Cisco NCS 2000 line system over 205km, traversing 14 fiber central offices. In metropolitan networks, the number of central offices traversed is a crucial performance metric due to the progressive filtering and signal-to-noise ratio degradation as the wavelength passes through each office. Additionally, in the trial, 800 Gbps transmission was achieved over 305km through 20 offices and a 1.2 Tbps wavelength traversed three offices.

Bill Gartner, SVP/GM of optical systems and optics for Cisco, said its NCS 2000 platform will allow Verizon to meet current and future needs as they evolve. “The Verizon infrastructure built with the Cisco NCS 2000 open line system supports multiple generations of optics, thus protecting investments as technology evolves,” he said.

Betting on fiber

Verizon has continued to expand its fiber network presence. Since 2020, Verizon has deployed nearly 57,000 fiber miles and now connects over 51% of its wireless cell sites with its fiber.

Additionally, Verizon continues to expand its fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) presence in the Northeast. Verizon recently announced expanding its Fios internet service in Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, central New York and other markets.

“We have bet big on fiber,” said Adam Koeppe, SVP of technology planning at Verizon. “Not only does it provide an award-winning broadband experience for consumers and enterprises, it also serves as the backbone of our wireless network. As we continue to see customers using more data in more varied ways, we must stay ahead of our customer’s demands by using the resources we have most efficiently.”

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