Verizon has completed trials in its commercial fibre network in metro Long Island, New York, in which it carried 1.2Tb/s of data using a single wavelength over longer distances through more nodes by upgrading the optical to electrical conversion cards that manage the flow of customer data through fibre optic cables. The operator, alongside vendor partner Cisco, demonstrated increased speed, reliability, and overall capacity for the network.
The trial was conducted over Verizon’s live production network using Cisco’s NCS 1014 transceiver shelf and Acacia’s Coherent Interconnect Module 8 (CIM 8). The CIM 8 is Acacia’s 8th generation solution, an improved generation of silicon semiconductor chips with increased transistor density. The CIM 8 combines 5nm complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) digital processing and 140GBd silicon photonics optics using advanced 3D packaging technology.
How Verizon achieved terabit transmission speeds
A 1.0Tb/s single-wavelength was transmitted over the Cisco NCS 2000 line system over 205km traversing 14 fibre central offices. In metropolitan networks, the number of central offices traversed is a key performance metric due to the progressive filtering and signal-to-noise ratio degradation as the wavelength passes through each office. Additionally in the trial, 800Gb/s transmission was achieved over 305km through 20 offices and a 1.2Tb/s wavelength traversed three offices.
In recent years, Verizon has accelerated its fibre build plan, deploying nearly 57,000 fibre miles since 2020. It now connects more than 51% of its cell sites with its own fibre. It is also expanding its fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) presence in the Northeast as well. Adam Koeppe, SVP of Technology Planning at Verizon says: “We have bet big on fibre. Not only does it provide an award-winning broadband experience for consumers and enterprises, it also serves as the backbone of our wireless network. As we continue to see customers using more data in more varied ways, it is critical we continue to stay ahead of our customers’ demands by using the resources we have most efficiently.”
In addition to increasing data rates, the new optics technology from Cisco can reduce the need for regeneration of the light signal along the path by compensating for the degradation of the light signal travelling through the fibre cable. This can add reliability and lead to a reduced cost-per-bit operating expense for more efficient network management.
Bill Gartner, SVP/GM Cisco Optical Systems and Optics says: “This trial demonstrates our commitment to continuous innovation aimed at increasing wavelength capacity and reducing costs. The Verizon infrastructure built with the Cisco NCS 2000 open line system supports multiple generations of optics thus protecting investments as technology evolves.”