Considerable research was done using the Internet. Information from various Web sites was studied and analyzed; evaluation of publicly available marketing and technical publications was also conducted. Telephone conversations and interviews were held with industry analysts, technical experts and executives. In addition to these interviews and primary research, secondary sources were used to develop a more complete mosaic of the market landscape, including industry and trade publications, conferences and seminars.
The overriding objective throughout the work has been to provide valid and relevant information. This has led to a continual review and update of the information content.
Target Audience
This report provides the analysis of a complicated landscape for high-speed (40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s) optical systems. This report is useful for service providers, vendors, network operators and managers, Enterprise IT staff, investors and end users seeking to gain a deeper understanding of the gradual migration various types of the network towards such high speeds and learn about their opportunities and barriers.
The end users can gain a more detailed understanding of product’s market and capabilities as well as the economics of using these technologies products to improve cost efficiency.
The second issue of this report reflects dynamics of the high-rate optical transmission systems technologies and markets and provides up to date analysis of their benefits and issues.
The systems with 40 Gb/s speed appeared in a market in early 2000, coinciding with the beginning of the worst in history downturn in the telecommunications development, research and production. In that hostile climate, high-rate transmission was met without enthusiasm-extra fiber capacity was more than enough.
At the present time, the industry is witnessing the rising interest for high-rate systems, and it seems that the advent of 40 Gb/s pipes in carrier networks has finally arrived. 100 Gb/s systems can be expected in a few years. Besides traditional applications, there are many new applications for such high-speed communications (such as, for example establishing connections between peta-scale systems, or modernizing SAN systems).
2007 was the first year when sizable volume of 40 Gb/s units was shipped by the industry. The emergence of 40G POS interfaces for backbone routers lead to the popularity of WDM backbone transportation systems based on the single-channel 40G technology. Most mainstream operators in Europe, America, and Japan, for instance, have begun planning or deploying long haul backbone networks and backbone MANs. AT&T, NTT, TransTeleCom, Telefonica, and Verizon have already constructed 40 Gb/s networks (though did not switch completely to this speed of transmission); DT, Swisscom, and FT are planning theirs; and China Telecom is in the process of deploying its 40 Gb/s network connecting Shanghai to Wuxi.
2007-2008 also were years of field testing 100 Gb/s systems. For example, Verizon completed the first field test of 100 Gb/s optical transmission on a live, in-service 312-mile network route between Tampa, Fl. and Miami. The test used a live video feed from Verizon's national FiOS TV network as the payload, and the 1625 LambdaXtreme transport system from Alcatel-Lucent with a 100 Gb/s signal on a single wavelength..
There are several factors in re-discovering attractiveness of such transmission; the most important from them are:
Constantly raising demand for data spectrum
Future economics (at the present time, 40 Gb/s interface costs almost the same price as 4x10 Gb/s interfaces)
Increasing fiber plant utilization
Standardization activity.
Among areas the most demanding for high-rate systems are Internet data and entertainment traffic, such as HD and SHD format signals that require significant bandwidth (measured in Gb/s) for each wired household.
Though the industry has not reached yet the level of fiber bandwidth exhaustion, there are regions with critical values (of 65%-70% of fiber plant utilization) and carriers are looking for alternatives to lying new fiber.
Major standardization organizations (IEEE, ITU and other) established working groups and formulated tasks for standardization of Ethernet-based and SONET/SDH-based 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s interfaces. The tasks are planned to be completed in the 2010 time frame.
Based on these factors, the authors of this report analyzed the status of high-rate systems industry with the emphasis on:
Technology specifics
PMD characteristics and methods for its compensation
Marketing trends
Standardization activity.
It is the authors’ opinion that, at the present time, we are witnessing the process when the high-rate industry is defining itself. The IEEE 802.3ba standard (as well as other standards for 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s systems) is promised to be ratified in 2010; the industry already exists, and it is preparing to satisfy the demand that is also supported by a mature stage of standardization.
The report analyzes technological and marketing features of 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s transmission systems. Such systems safer from PMD, and the report addresses this issue. The industry expects that PMD compensators will be a part of high-rate transmission systems; so far, manufacturers are very cautious to spend money on such compensators development, and only a few mechanical products and limited number of PMDC based on other technologies are in the market.
The analysis of existing 40 Gb/s products confirmed that, in their majority, vendors are building systems that can use 10 Gb/s engineering rules, copping with rapid raise of the level of various distortions (that increase significantly in comparison with 10 Gb/s transmission.) The majority of systems support various signal formats, such as Ethernet, SONET/SDH. 40 Gb/s systems are also gaining popularity in the storage networks, which usually carry very high signal payload.
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