Level 3 Communications plans to deploy Infinera's optical equipment across a substantial portion of its 23,000-mile fiber-optic network. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Infinera's DTN platform will provide DWDM at the network's optical transport layer. The Infinera DTN, based on Infinera's photonic integrated circuits, combines DWDM, digital bandwidth management, and advanced network intelligence. The DTN supports 800 Gb/s of DWDM capacity and delivers manageable and protectable SONET/SDH and Ethernet-based services.
Level 3 is continuing its field trials and interoperability testing, and expects to finish installing the Infinera equipment along a majority of its intercity network routes in the U.S., where demand for IP and transport services is greatest, by the end of 2005.
http://www.infinera.com
- In October 2004, Infinera, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, California, raised $52 million in new funding for its Photonic Integrated Circuit technology. The company has raised $205 million to date. Strategic investors in this round include UTStarcom and CTC (Itochu Techno-Science Corporation), both of which are collaborating with Infinera to provide optical networking solutions in Asia.
- Infinera is offering an optical transport platform based on its Photonic Integrated Circuits. The Infinera DTN supports 400 Gbps, i.e., forty 10 Gbps channels in a half rack, and 800Gbps (eighty 10 Gbps channels) in a full rack.. 100 Gbps line cards support a variety of hot-swappable client interfaces including OC-192/STM-64, OC-48/STM-16, 10 Gigabit Ethernet LAN PHY and WAN PHY, and Gigabit Ethernet. The platform runs Infinera's IQ Network Operating System to automate network discovery, configuration, and provisioning via GMPLS.
- Unlike conventional optical systems, which use analog optical devices for key networking functions, the Infinera DTN uses digital technology. Its photonic integrated circuits convert all traffic from optical to electronic signals, allowing the DTN to add and drop, multiplex, groom, and protect circuits digitally rather than optically. Infinera's Photonic Integrated Circuits include a 100 Gbps transmitter, which integrates ten lasers, ten 10 Gbps modulators, and an optical multiplexer; as well as a 100 Gbps receiver, which integrates an optical demultiplexer and ten photodiodes. Each enables low-cost optical-electrical conversion on a semiconductor chip.
