Bell Labs innovations underpin a breakthrough commercial 400 gigabit-per-second chip for optical communications networks
Paris, March 6, 2012 - As communications service providers
face the increasing challenge of a network capacity crunch
due to the demands of smartphone ownership and growing video
traffic, Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is
introducing the Photonic Service
Engine (PSE), a new chip for fiber optic networks that
offers double the capacity, and four times the speed of
today's networks.
Built on innovations from Bell Labs, the Alcatel-Lucent
Photonic Service Engine supports 400 gigabit per second
(400G) data transmission speeds on optical networks.
The unabated growth of broadband, mobile data and cloud-based
services has presented a major challenge for service
providers that need to find ways to keep costs in check while
dramatically expanding the capacity of their networks. The
Photonic Service Engine will bring substantial improvements
to 100G coherent optical networks, which are being deployed
by operators today. The PSE also lays the foundation for the
smooth migration to 400G networks in future.
"Speed is a factor for all service providers today: the speed
of the network and the speed with which new services can be
brought to market," said Mr. Keiichi Makizono, Corporate
Officer, Deputy Unit Head, Technology Unit & Division Head,
Network Division, SOFTBANK TELECOM in Japan. "With millions
of people looking to us to access the full range of online
content, we see Alcatel-Lucent's 400G innovation as the
gateway to a long, successful future."
"Alcatel-Lucent's next generation coherent optical engine
exemplifies the coupling of Bell Labs advanced research and
the company's 100G commercial market experiences," said
Sterling Perrin, Heavy Reading Senior Analyst. "The PSE may
well be the first commercial 400G chip, but, just as
significantly, it will improve the economics and performance
of 100G systems - broadening and accelerating 100G market
adoption."
Alcatel-Lucent is the clear leader in the market for 100G
optical solutions, with 69 percent market share according to
the report "OVUM: High-Speed Optics:
Global 40G/100G Market Outlook, January 2012."
The versatile 400G PSE chip can be deployed in a broad range
of network configurations - from metro to regional to
ultra-long haul - and transmit wavelengths over existing or
new photonic lines. It is designed specifically for use in a
family of line cards in the industry-leading Alcatel-Lucent
1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS), used today in over 120
networks around the world. It enables more than 23 Terabits
of traffic to be transmitted along a single optical fiber and
further enhances performance by more than 50%, while reducing
power consumed per gigabit by a third. The PSE is highly
configurable, giving operators enormous flexibility to adjust
the appropriate optical parameters to produce the best
performance for varying conditions in the field.
James Watt, president of Alcatel-Lucent's Optics Division,
said: "From the start we correctly identified the challenges
presented by 100G transport, applied the correct technology
solution and commercialized it, a decision supported by the
deployment of our solution with more than 55 customers
worldwide. The introduction of the Alcatel-Lucent400G
Photonic Service Engine is the latest example of how we are
continuing to develop leading technology and leverage
innovations from Bell Labs to redefine 'state-of-the-art' in
optical networking and keep our customers ahead of the
game."
Recently, the technology behind the chip was put to the test
when
Deutsche Telecom's Innovation Laboratories (T-Labs) and
Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs broke a transmission distance
record on optical networks, doubling transmission
capacity by employing the same process that sits at the heart
of the Alcatel-Lucent PSE.
"Together with our technology partner Alcatel-Lucent and the
experts at Telekom Network Production, we are very proud of
having attained this tremendous transmission performance over
the Internet under real-world conditions," said T-Labs
Manager, Heinrich Arnold. "With them, we have successfully
developed an innovative method by which the transmission
capacity of optical fiber can be increased significantly in
network operation."
The 1830 PSS, which is powered by the Photonic Service
Engine, is a key element of the Alcatel-Lucent High
Leverage Network™ (HLN) architecture, which is designed
to provide massive capacity while slashing transport costs
and dramatically reducing operational complexity in core
networks.
Visit our website to learn more about Alcatel-Lucent's Photonic Service Engine or read Alcatel-Lucent's TechZine article, " The 400G Photonic Service Engine." Live demonstrations of the Photonic Service Engine, supporting 400G traffic, are being conducted in Alcatel-Lucent's booth #738 at the OFC/NFOEC Conference in Los Angeles, March 6-8.