We’ve been seeing more and more trials of technology moving beyond the 100G mark this year, and today it was Verizon (NYSE:VZ, news, filings)‘s turn to test it out. They put Ciena gear to work in a field trial of a 200G link between New York and Boston.
The trial used 16QAM on a single wavelength with 50Ghz spacing, doubling the amount of bits per wavelength over 100G. The link remained in place for more than a month with no impact to live customer traffic carried alongside it.
Just which speeds and combinations of technologies will emerge as the next rung on the DWDM ladder remain unclear to me. Is 200G enough of a jump over 100G to make a difference, or is it just a step on the way to 1Tbps?
But then, we don’t quite need the bigger yet so there is time for things to shake out – though it surely won’t be long before that changes.
If you haven't already, please take our Reader Survey! Just 3 questions to help us better understand who is reading Telecom Ramblings so we can serve you better!
Categories: Fiber Networks · Internet Backbones · Telecom Equipment
Join Our LinkedIn Group
The interesting thing is that 200 doesn’t have to be that much of a jump over 100, because now that the modulation is processed digitally the same card can do both. In medium-distance applications like New York to Boston you can configure it to 16qam and 200G, and then use the same card in a New York to Chicago application and dial it back to DP-QPSK for 100G. Once the different modulations are baked into the ASICs, it doesn’t really cost more to do an all-in-one multi-reach card.
So is the 200G card going to cost less you can only get 100G out of it ?? Probably not. What’s the point then, might as well buy a 100G card and call it good.