Verizon (NYSE: VZ) may have taken the lead in the 100 Gbps transmission network race, having rolled out the technology on parts of both its European and U.S. networks, but the service provider is conducting tests on what lies beyond 100 Gbps.
At the recent OFC/NFOEC Conference and, Verizon revealed the results of a field trial it conducted with NEC Corp. to see how 100 Gbps, 450 Gbps and 1 Tbps network speeds can coexist on one fiber in a post-deadline paper. The field trial was held last year in Dallas, Texas over 3,560 kilometers (2,212 miles) of field fiber on Verizon's network.
This paper's revelations come on the heels of Verizon's recent announcement that will upgrade networks from Chicago to New York, Sacramento to Los Angeles and Minneapolis to Kansas City to 100 Gbps.
Glenn Wellbrock, director of optical transport network architecture and design at Verizon and an author of the paper, said that "As we look to a future when data rates go beyond 100G, it's important to begin examining how these technologies perform," adding that the "trial gives us a good first step toward analyzing the capabilities of future technologies."
During the trial, NEC and Verizon measured the signal quality of all channels and the optical signal intensity. At the end of the trial, the two companies concluded that these "superchannels" were able to not only carry higher capacities, but also improve spectral efficiency without sacrificing distance.
For more:
- see the release
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