Infinera introduced its third generation, 500 Gbps photonic integrated circuit (PIC) -- the foundation for its new DTN-X multi-terabit switching platform designed for scaling core networks. The 500 Gbps PIC integrates more than 600 optical functions and works by converting light waves into electrical circuits, which can then be switched and groomed with digital signal processing.
The DTN-X combines three core functions-- a) a DWDM transmission system, offering 500 Gig super-channels based upon 100 Gig coherent channels, b) an OTN switch that scales from 5 Tbps non-blocking at ODU 0 today to 100-terabit non-blocking in the future; and c) a platform that can be upgraded to MPLS in the future.
Infinera believes that these key innovations will lead to the next economic disruption in the network, as very large pools of bandwidth can now be easily created, directed and managed across a fiber network. The 500 Gbps super-channel capability is unique in the industry and Infinera plans to support 1 Tbps super-channels in the future with another new PIC which is already in the lab.
The DTN-X combines PICs, custom ASICs and GMPLS software to deliver 5 Tbps of non-blocking, ITU G.709 Optical Transport Network (OTN) switching in a single bay for grooming traffic onto larger 100 Gbps and 500 Gbps pipes to maximize network utilization. Future iterations of the platform will be upgradeable to resilient multi-bay configurations providing 100 Tbps of non-blocking OTN and MPLS switching.
The embedded GMPLS software provides automatic topology discovery an inventory management. It also enables point and click end-to-end service provisioning, as well as <50ms hardware based protection for mesh & ring configurations.
The new DTN-X is interoperable with Infinera's existing DTN platform and is planned to support 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE), 40 Gigabit Ethernet (40 GbE), 100 Gigabit Ethernet (100 GbE), 10 Gbps SONET/SDH/OTN, 40 Gbps SONET/SDH/OTN, 100 Gbps OTN, 8/10 Gbps Fibre Channel, and multiple bit rate clear-channel interfaces.
Infinera also announced the availability of new capabilities on the DTN platform, including:
- new 40 GbE and 100 GbE service interfaces to support high-bandwidth data services
- new DWDM line-cards supporting 40 Gbps per wavelength coherent optical transmission, enabling the DTN platform to scale up to 6.4 Tbps of transmission capacity per fiber.
- Infinera introduced its 100 Gig PIC and DTN platform in 2004.
- Infinera currently claims 85 customers in 50 countries who have deployed over 8,000 DTN chassis systems.
- Last month Infinera and SEACOM, a leading pan-African telecommunications provider, has completed testing of five 100 Gigabit per second (100 Gbps) coherent optical signals transmitted over 1732 km. The 500 Gbps trial ran over and was looped back across SEACOM’s newly built 930 km Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) fiber route which links the SEACOM Mtunzini cable landing station in KwaZulu Natal to the Teraco data center in Johannesburg.
The trial used Infinera’s 500 Gbps Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs), each of which integrates five 100 Gbps coherent channels onto a single chip. The PICs were used for both transmitting and receiving the five 100 Gbps signals during the trial, the first time the PICs have been used to transmit and provide real time coherent processing for all 500 Gbps simultaneously on a production network. The trial also demonstrated Infinera’s FlexCoherent functionality by switching between QPSK and BPSK modulation.
Infinera said it plans to deliver the 500 Gbps PICs as part of a system which integrates 5 Terabit per second (Tbps) OTN switching and 100 Gbps coherent optical transmission in early 2012.
