The invention of optical amplifiers heralded the proliferation of Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) technology in network architectures, boosting transmission capacity to multiple 10 Gbps and/or 40 Gbps fiber services. Now, however, with the rapid growth in bandwidth-intensive applications, the deployment of even higher-capacity WDM systems, not only in the long term but also in metropolitan data center interconnection systems, is becoming increasingly necessary.
The metropolitan network boom is being driven by several key factors, including a projected increase in traffic of over 550 percent by 2017, as well as a video traffic increase (fixed and mobile) of over 700 percent and a cloud data center traffic increase of over 400 percent. In fact, total metropolitan traffic will grow approximately twice as fast as traffic going to the backbone network by 2017.
A metropolitan area network (MAN) will typically already exist, often relying on multiple 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps services multiplexed across the dark fiber network. Therefore, to minimize CAPEX (capital expenditures) and OPEX (operating expenditures), the goal is not to decommission the existing network and replace it with new infrastructure, but rather to migrate to a 100 Gbps metropolitan network for data centers. This ensures economic viability while simultaneously achieving greater space, energy efficiency, and bandwidth. It is also essential that the upgrade be inherently flexible to accommodate new equipment as needed and support lower latency.
Conventionally, a 100 Gbps service is delivered via a transponder between the customer side and the network line.
However, the HUBER+SUHNER Cube Optics 100 Gbps passive transport solution eliminates the need for a power-hungry transponder, thus simplifying transport and making the management of this additional element obsolete. Consequently, the active components (transceivers) are operated, controlled, and managed directly by the DSLAM/Router/Switch.
And, since passive transport has fewer active components, it offers not only lower CAPEX/OPEX but also greater reliability and lower latency, making it a very attractive solution for cost-sensitive metropolitan area networks.
