Verizon has successfully completed a field trial demonstrating the ability to double the capacity of a fiber by using 200G technology on Verizon’s ultra-long-haul production network between New York and Boston. This advanced technology can help meet the robust IP network traffic growth from such drivers as online video, cloud usage and LTE 4G.
Verizon claims that the trial, which involved sending IP traffic approximately 260 miles, proves the ability to double spectral efficiency on existing IP network infrastructure while reducing the cost per bit when compared with 100G technology, currently the fastest speed available on most IP networks. For the hosting industry it means that IP network providers would quite easily be able to boost their existing IP networks in order to facilitate the expected data growth in the years to come.
16QAM technology
The trial used the same hardware that currently supports Verizon’s 100G ultra-long-haul traffic, along with pre-production software to configure a Ciena Wavelogic3 coherent optical processor. Coherent optic technology reduces the amount of amplification necessary to send the optical signal while increasing the distance it can be sent without additional loss of signal quality.
Verizon used 16QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) on a single wavelength with the typical 50GHz channel spacing to increase the amount of IP traffic carried. The 16QAM technology doubles the number of bits per wavelength, allowing for twice the data to be encoded when compared with standard 100G technology.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global provider of broadband and other wireless and wireline network communications services. A Dow 30 company with nearly $116 billion in 2012 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 180,900.
