Converging IP and optical technologies, demo addresses future super-fast bandwidth demands.
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and Nextgen Networks, which owns and operates Australia’s third largest fibre network, have successfully demonstrated an Australian and Asia-Pacific first with the delivery of broadband traffic at 100 gigabit/s (100G) speed over Nextgen Networks’ backbone network.
Increasing bandwidth demands are driven by data-hungry devices like smartphones, video and multimedia downloads, device-to-device communications and, in the future, new innovative content-rich services such as 3D entertainment or remote healthcare applications which all rely on guaranteed quality of service.
This demo, which leverages Alcatel-Lucent’s unique converged optical and IP technologies, would enable the transfer of over 100,000 mp3 files in 60 seconds or the live streaming of over 15,000 HDTV channels concurrently. With Australian investment in super-fast fixed and wireless-based broadband access networks set to support these services and drive further service innovation, backbone networks need to keep well ahead. By processing massive amount of data in real-time and transmitting it over a single wavelength of light, the demo addresses the key issue facing backbone network providers – how to cost-effectively and competitively increase network capacity and manage quality of service to meet sky-rocketing demands for bandwidth and advanced services.
"With this unique demonstration of Alcatel-Lucent’s combined optical and IP 100G, we have better leveraged the network to seamlessly integrate different parts This is a key part of our ongoing program to create a converged optical/IP backbone that is more cost-effective to run and scale and is ten times faster than the links that are commonly used today,” said Phil Sykes, managing director of Nextgen Networks. “Nextgen Networks has established a proven track record of being first to market and this demonstration shows our continued commitment to serving Australia’s broadband future head on.”
“Super-fast access at the home or enterprise means that service providers like NextGen will need to scale their backbone capacity. But achieving this is not purely about the technical capability. Providing faster services cost-effectively, efficiently and with guaranteed quality of service is the critical and more difficult aspect and requires a rethink of their networks,” said James Watt, Head of Alcatel-Lucent’s optical activities. “Through our unique combination of innovations in optical and IP, we are driving a key evolutionary advancement, offering improvements in overall network scaling from today’s 10G and 40G to 100G, providing benefits in terms of total cost of ownership, reducing power consumption and delivering operational simplification.”
Leveraging Alcatel-Lucent’s High Leverage NetworkTM (HLN) architecture and its Converged Backbone Transformation (CBT) solution, this demonstration further illustrates the benefits of a seamless interaction between optical transport systems and IP service routers using 100G links. Core elements of the 100G solution demonstrated are the Alcatel-Lucent 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS), featuring 100G next-generation coherent technology, and the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Service Router (SR) with 100G Ethernet interfaces. Traffic aggregation was performed by the Alcatel-Lucent 1850 Transport Service Switch featuring T-MPLS/MPLS-TP* capabilities and connected to the 1830 PSS.
The demo will further strengthen the cooperation between Alcatel-Lucent and Nextgen Networks, following the contract awarded earlier this year for the Australian Government’s Regional Backbone Blackspots Programme (RBBP).
MPLS-TP is a technology optimized for packet transport networks but not limited to them; it provides an evolution path from SONET/SDH-based networks to packet transport networks. It enables convergence between the transport and service routers, thus providing the flexibility and scalability required by Ethernet and IP services, while preserving the manageability, resilience, deterministic performance and the OAM features of transport networks.
