Nokia and GlobalConnect demonstrate record 1.2Tb/s coherent transmission over a single wavelength in live network

Nokia and GlobalConnect have broken two optical transport records in real-world field trials on GlobalConnect’s live optical network in Europe. The demonstration used Nokia’s sixth generation super-coherent Photonic Service Engine, PSE-6s, to achieve 1.2 Tb/s over metro distances (118km) and 800 Gb/s over long haul distances (2,019 km), both using a single wavelength.

The 1.2 Tb/s speed was using Nokia’s PSE-6s optics deployed over a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network using 150 GHz of spectrum on GlobalConnect’s Metro Data Center Interconnect links. Data center interconnection was also demonstrated at 800 Gb/s on a single wavelength over 2,000km, paving the way to single-wavelength 800GE transport across long-haul distances with no regeneration. Reducing the number of coherent interfaces needed enables up to 50% network total cost of ownership savings and up to a 60% reduction in network power consumption.

GlobalConnect operates the largest interconnected fiber network in Northern-Europe, with more than 150,000 km of trenched fiber. Referred to as the ‘gateway to the Nordics’, the backbone connects to local networks and data centers in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands and Germany. The GlobalConnect network provides dedicated point-to-point fiber inter-connection between data centers across a wide range of distances.

James Watt, President Nokia Optical Networks, said: “With world data volumes expected to double by 2025, there has never been so much focus on cost and power consumption per bit. That is why we launched the PSE-6s and why we are celebrating this first field trial with GlobalConnect, ushering in new era of single-wavelength 800GE client transport to increase network capacity.”

Martin Højriis Kristensen, Head of Market & Operations at GlobalConnect, said: “This trial highlights GlobalConnect’s commitment to offering scalable and flexible high-bandwidth services across our Nordic backbone network. We are pleased to validate Nokia’s latest generation of PSE-6 super coherent optics as an important enabler of these continuous network upgrades, seamlessly operating over our live network with existing coherent channels.”

Nokia will showcase the PSE-6s at the upcoming MWC in Barcelona and the OFC conference in San Diego. The sixth generation PSE can be deployed across Nokia’s 1830 family of optical transport platforms, without the need for new chassis or platforms. PSE-6s can also operate over existing WDM channel plans designed around n x 50GHz channels. This allows network operators to implement operationally efficient upgrades and to migrate their networks to greater performance and more sustainable power efficiency.