Latest trends in optical networks- straight from NGON & DCI World
By Helen Xenos – “If you are not sitting at the edge of your seat, you are taking up too much space.”
I heard this quote from a friend recently and thought it was interestingly appropriate in describing the optical networking industry these days. No one has time to sit back. Technology is evolving at an incredibly fast pace, new developments are occurring at a regular cadence, and network providers are regularly evaluating different architecture approaches for evolving their networks.
In attending the 21st Annual NGON & DCI World event in beautiful Nice last week, I had an opportunity to get a pulse on the latest topics and trends that are driving change in the optical networking landscape.
A popular topic at all optical events – and NGON was no exception – is the discussion of the next technology breakthrough that will bring new levels of capacity scale and cost reduction to transport networks.
If we look at coherent optical shipments, capacity and average selling price data over the past decade, what is the principal way that network providers have been able to keep up with exponentially increasing bandwidth demands while maintaining transport costs relatively flat? Through coherent technology innovations that have enabled higher throughput at less cost.
So, how will we get to the next level of cost reduction?
The consistent response to this question in multiple sessions at NGON was higher baud, which means coherent optical solutions that have a higher symbol rate and can process more data per second, resulting in more fiber capacity with less equipment. more>
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