Verizon on 100G+ optical transmission developments

Feature: 100 Gig and Beyond. Part 1: Verizon's Glenn Wellbrock discusses 100 Gig deployments and higher speed optical channel developments for long haul and metro.

The number of 100 Gigabit wavelengths deployed in the network has continued to grow in 2013. According to vum! 100 Gigabit has become the wavelength of choice for large wavelength"division multiple#ing

$%&'( systems! with spending on 100 Gigabit now e#ceeding )0 Gigabit spending. *ight+ounting forecasts that )0!000! 100 Gigabit line cards will be shipped this year! 2,!000 in the second half of the year alone. -nfonetics .esearch! meanwhile! points out that while 10 Gigabit will remain the highest"volume speed! the most dramatic growth is at 100 Gigabit. /y 2010! the ma1ority of spending in long"haul networks will be on 100 Gigabit! it says. The market research firms2 findings align with 3eri4on2s own e#perience deploying 100 Gigabit. The 56 operator said in 6eptember that it had added )!700! 100 Gigabit miles of its global -8 network during the first half of 2013! to total 21!)00 miles in the 56 network and ,!100 miles in 9urope. 3eri4on e#pects to deploy another 7!:00 miles of 100 Gigabit in the 56 and 1!)00 miles more in 9urope by year end. ;%e e#pect to hit the targets< we are getting close!; says Glenn %ellbrock! director of optical transport network architecture and design at 3eri4on. 3eri4on says several factors are driving the need for greater network capacity! including its =i 6 bundled home communication services! *ong Term 9volution $*T9( wireless and video traffic. /ut what triggered 3eri4on to upgrade its core network to 100 Gig was converging its -8 networks and the resulting growth in traffic. ;%e didn2t do a lot of )0 Gig >deployments? in our core '8*6 >'ultiprotocol *abel 6witching? network!; says %ellbrock.

The cost of 100 Gigabit was another factor@ A 100 Gigabit long"haul channel is now cheaper than ten! 10 Gig channels. There are also operational benefits using 100 Gig such as having fewer wavelengths to manage. ;6o it is the lower cost"per"bit plus you get all the advantages of having the higher trunk rates!; says %ellbrock. 3eri4on e#pects to continue deploying 100 Gigabit. =irst! it has a large network and much of the deployment will occur in 201). ;9ventually! we hope to get a bit ahead of the curve and have some >capacity? headroom!; says %ellbrock.

%e could take advantage of 200 Gig or )00 Gig or ,00 Gig today

Super-channel trials perators! working with optical vendors! are trialling super"channels and advanced modulation schemes such as 10" AA' $Buadrature amplitude amplitude(. 6uch trials involve links carrying data in multiples of 100 Gig@ 200 Gig! )00 Gig! even a Terabit. 6uper"channels are already carrying live traffic. -nfinera2s &TC"D system delivers ,00 Gig super"channels using Buadrature phase"shift keying $A86E( modulation. range has a )00 Gigabit super"channel link between *yon and 8aris. The )00 Gig super"channel comprises two carriers! each carrying 200 Gig using 10"AA'! implemented using Alcatel"*ucent2s 1730 photonic service switch platform and its photonic service engine $869( &68"A6-+. ;%e could take advantage of 200 Gig or )00 Gig or ,00 Gig today!; says %ellbrock. ;As soon as it is cost effective! you can use it because you can put multiple 100 Gig channels on there and multiple# them.; The issue with 10"AA'! however! is its limited reach using e#isting fibre and line systems " ,00":00km " compared to A86E2s 2!,00F km before regeneration. ;-t >10"AA'? will only work in a handful of applications " 2, percent! something of this nature!; says %ellbrock. This is good for a Cew Gork to /oston! he says! but not Cew Gork to +hicago. ;=rom our end it is pretty simple! it is lowest cost!; says %ellbrock. ;-f we can reduce the cost! we will use it >10"AA'?. However! if the reach reBuirement cannot be met! the operator will not go to the e#pense of putting in signal regenerators to use 10"AA' do! he says. 9arlier this year 3eri4on conducted a trial with +iena using 10"AA'. The goals were to test 10"AA' alongside live traffic and determine whether the same line card would work at 100 Gig using A86E and 200 Gig using 10"AA'. ;The good thing is you can use the same hardware< it is a firmware setting!; says %ellbrock.

%e feel that 201, is when we can 1ustify a new! greenfield network and that 100 Gig or versions of that " 200 Gig or )00 Gig " will be cheap enough to make sense

100 Gig in the metro 3eri4on says there is already sufficient traffic pressure in its metro networks to 1ustify 100 Gig deployments. 6ome of 3eri4on2s bigger metro locations comprise up to 200 reconfigurable optical addI drop multiple#er $. A&'( nodes. 9ach node is typically a central office connected to the network via a . A&'! varying from a two"degree to an eight" degree design. ;Cot all the 200 nodes would need multiple 100 Gig channels but in the core of the network! there is a significant amount of capacity that needs to be moved around!; says %ellbrock. ;100 Gig will be used as soon as it is cost" effective.; 5nlike long"haul! 100 Gigabit in the metro remains costlier than ten 10 Gig channels. That said! 3eri4on has deployed metro 100 Gig when absolutely necessary! for e#ample connecting two router locations that need to be connected using 100 Gig. Here 3eri4on is willing to pay e#tra for such links. ;/y 201, we are really hoping that the >metro? crossover point will be reached! that 100 Gig will be more cost effective in the metro than ten times 10 >Gig?.; 3eri4on will build a new generation of metro networks based on 100 Gig or 200 Gig or )00 Gig using coherent receivers rather than use e#isting networks based on conventional 10 Gig links to which 100 Gig is added. ;%e feel that 201, is when we can 1ustify a new! greenfield network and that 100 Gig or versions of that " 200 Gig or )00 Gig " will be cheap enough to make sense.;

Data Centres The build"out of data centres is not a significant factor driving 100 Gig demand. The largest content service providers do use tens of 100 Gigabit wavelengths to link their mega data centres but they typically have their own networks that connect relatively few sites. ;-f you have lots of data centres! the traffic itself is more distributed! as are the bandwidth reBuirements!; says %ellbrock. 3eri4on has over 220 data centres! most being hosting centres. The data demand between many of the sites is relatively small and is served with 10 Gigabit links. ;%e are seeing the same thing with most of our customers!; says %ellbrock.

Technologies

6ystem vendors continue to develop cheaper line cards to meet the cost"conscious metro reBuirements. 'odule developments include smaller 100 Gig )#,"inch '6A transponders! 100 Gig +=8 modules and component developments for line side interfaces that fit within +=82 and +=8) modules. ;They are all good!; says %ellbrock when asked which of these 100 Gigabit metro technologies are important for the operator. ;%e would like to get there as soon as possible.; The +=8) may be available by late 201, but more likely in 2010! and will reduce significantly the cost of 100 Gig. ;%e are assuming they are going to be there and basing our timelines on that!; he says. Greater line card port density is another benefit once 100 Gig +=82 and +=8) line side modules become available. ;*ower power and greater density which is allowing us to get more bandwidth on and off the card.; sats %ellbrock. 9#isting switch and routers are bandwidth"constrained@ they have more traffic capability that the faceplate can provide. ;The +=8s! the way they are today! you can only get four on a card! and a lot of the cards will support twice that much capacity!; says %ellbrock. %ith the smaller form factor +=82 and +=8)! 1.2 and 1.0 Terabits card will become possible from 201,. Another possible development is a )00 Gigabit +=8 which would achieve a similar overall capacity gains.

Coherent not !ust greater capacity 3eri4on is looking for greater system integration and continues to encourage industry commonality in optical component building blocks to drive down cost and promote scale. -ndeed 3eri4on believes that industry developments such as '6As and standards are working well. %ellbrock prefers standardisation to custom designs like 100 Gigabit direct detection modules or company"specific optical module designs. %ellbrock stresses the importance of coherent receiver technology not only in enabling higher capacity links but also a dynamic optical layer. The coherent receiver adds value when it comes to colourless! directionless! contentionless $+&+( and fle#ible grid . A&'s. ;-f you are going to have a very cost"effective 100 Gigabit because the ecosystem is working towards similar solutions! then you can say@ 2%hy don2t - add in this agile photonic layerJ2 and then - can really start to do some ne#t" generation networking things.; This is only possible! says %ellbrock! because of the tunabie filter offered by a coherent receiver! unlike direct detection technology with its fi#ed"filter design. ;Today! if you want to move from one channel to the ne#t " wavelength 1 to wavelength 2 " you have to physically move the patch cord to another filter!; says %ellbrock. ;Cow! the >coherent? receiver can simply tune the local

oscillator to channel 2< the transmitter is full"band tunable! and now the receiver is full"band tunable as well.; This tunability can be enabled remotely rather than reBuiring an on"site engineer. 6uch wavelength agility promises greater network optimisation. ;How do we perhaps change some of our sparing policyJ How do we change some of our restoration policies so that we can take advantage of that agile photonics later!; says %ellbroack. ;That is something that is only becoming available because of the coherent 100 Gigabit receivers.;