Alcatel claims new optical network speed
IDG News Service - Alcatel-Lucent researchers said they have figured out how to multiply the speed of the fastest undersea cables by a factor of 10, an achievement that could someday send the contents of 400 DVDs hurtling from Paris to Chicago in one second.
Alcatel said researchers at a Bell Labs facility in Villarceaux, France, became the first to achieve the speed of "100 petabits per second.kilometer." The measurement takes into account both speed and the ability to maintain it over distance by multiplying the network's speed by its distance in kilometers. In this case, a network with an aggregate speed of 15.5Tbit/sec. was able to maintain that speed over a distance of 7,000 kilometers (4,349 miles), or roughly the distance from Paris to Chicago. One petabit is equal to about 1 million gigabits.
Because signals can degrade, the highest network speeds are possible over the shortest distances. Part of the requirements of a carrier network technology, however, is reach. The longest lines in service-provider networks often need to move the most data because they gather up traffic from entire countries and regions for transport around the world.
The Bell Labs team achieved its speed using 155 lasers, each transmitting data at 100Gbit/sec. over a different wavelength. They also used DSPs (digital signal processors) with a new technology called coherent detection, which allows the DSPs to look at more properties of light than the current method, called direct detection, Alcatel said in a press release. With coherent detection, the team was able to use more light sources on a fiber and still separate out the various wavelengths at the other end.
Alcatel didn't achieve this speed by using more repeaters along the way to amplify the signals. On the network, repeaters for sustaining signal strength were spread 90 kilometers apart, 20% farther than in typical optical networks, even though lightwave "noise" tends to increase with speed, Alcatel said.
The need for speed on international connections such as trans-oceanic cables has continued to grow even in a weak global economy. Earlier this month, research company Telegeography reported that international Internet traffic grew 79% between mid-2008 and mid-2009. This is faster than the growth rate had been during the prior 12 months.



- Excel 2010 Cheat Sheet
- Register for this Computerworld Insider Cheat Sheet and gain access to hundreds of premium content articles, guides, product reviews and more.
- Digital Transformation: Creating New Business Models Where Digital Meets Physical
- Individuals and businesses alike are embracing the digital revolution. Social networks and digital devices are being used to engage government, businesses and civil...
- Make the Connection: Better Network Connectivity Drives Transformation
- Network connectivity is more than just plumbing. Leading organizations today see high-performance network connectivity as a critical enabler of competitive advantage, and not...
- Virtualizing Government Infrastructure
- All server virtualization solutions are not created equal. The more-with-less agenda for government agencies is tailor-made for server virtualization, which is evolving into...
- Moving Service Management to SaaS
- Today, organizations can enjoy similarly substantial benefi ts by migrating their IT service management functions to a software-as-a-service model. This paper shows how...
- Achieving 360 Degree Network Visibility with Nimsoft
- 360° network visibility is critical for ensuring continuous availability of networks, servers, and applications-anything less could
have costly bottom-line implications.
All Networking White Papers
- Optimizing Networks for the Cloud
- Join guest speaker, Rohit Mehra, IDC Director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure, to explore current trends, discuss best practices for optimizing Data Center and...
- Unified Communications 101
- What's the best way to implement a unified communications solution for your organization?
- Try the OptiView® XG on your network - FREE
- The OptiView® XG is the first dedicated tablet with automated network and application analysis -- fastest way to root cause. XG raises the...
- Apps QuickStart Series Part 2: Designing and Deploying SQL Server on VMware vSphere
- Download this webcast to learn about the design considerations for virtualizing SQL workloads, performance and scalability information and high-availability options, as well as...
- Apps QuickStart Series Part 1: Designing and Deploying Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere
- Download this webcast to learn the virtual hardware design considerations for Exchange 2010, deployment using the building block approach, options for high-availability and... All Networking Webcasts