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The evolution of optical networking

Roy Rubenstein — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:37:43 +0000

An upcoming issue of the Proceeedings of the IEEE will be dedicated solely to the topic of optical networking. This, says the lead editor, Professor Ioannis Tomkos at the Athens Information Technology Center, is a first in the journal's 100-year history. The issue, entitled The Evolution of Optical Networking, will be published in either April or May and will have a dozen invited papers.

One topic that will change the way we think about optical networks is flexible or elastic optical networks.

Professor Ioannis Tomkos

OFC/NFOEC 2012: Technical paper highlights

Roy Rubenstein — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:34:10 +0000

Source: The Optical Society

Novel technologies, operators' experiences with state-of-the-art optical deployments and technical papers on topics such as next-generation PON and 400 Gigabit and 1 Terabit optical transmission are some of the highlights of the upcoming OFC/NFOEC conference and exhibition, to be held in Los Angeles from March 4-8, 2012. Here is a taste of some of the technical paper highlights.

Huawei boosts its optical roadmap with CIP acquisition

Roy Rubenstein — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:46:51 +0000

Huawei has acquired UK photonic integration specialist, CIP Technologies, from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) for an undisclosed fee. The acquisition gives the Chinese system vendor a wealth of optical component expertise and access to advanced European Union R&D projects.

"By acquiring CIP and integrating the company’s R&D team into Huawei’s own research team, Huawei’s optic R&D capabilities can be significantly enhanced," says Peter Wharton, CEO at the Centre for Integrated Photonics (CIP). CIP Technologies is the trading name of the Centre for Integrated Photonics.

Huawei now has six European R&D centres with the acquisition of CIP.

Transport processors now at 100 Gigabit

Roy Rubenstein — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:42:22 +0000

Cortina Systems has detailed its CS605x family of transport processors that support 100 Gigabit Ethernet and Optical Transport Network (OTN).

The CS6051 transport processor architecture. Source: Cortina Systems

Melding networks to boost mobile broadband

Roy Rubenstein — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:19:08 +0000

In a Q&A, Bryan Kim, manager at SK Telecom's Core Network Lab, discusses the mobile operator's heterogeneous network implementation and the service benefits.

SK Telecom has developed an enhanced mobile broadband service that combines two networks: 3G and Wi-Fi or Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Wi-Fi. The mobile operator will launch the 3G/ Wi-Fi heterogeneous network service in the second quarter of 2012 to achieve a maximum data rate of 60 Megabits-per-second (Mbps), while the LTE and Wi-Fi integrated service will be offered in 2013, enabling up to a 100Mbps wireless Internet service.

Gazettabyte sponsorship for 2012

Roy Rubenstein — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:20:23 +0000

Gazettabyte is delighted to announce that the following founder backing companies of the online publication have agreed to renew their sponsorship:

ADVA Optical Networking, Ciena, ECI Telecom, Finisar, Infinera, LightCounting, Opnext and u²t Photonics.

That nearly all of the founding sponsors have agreed to renew is great confirmation about the site and the stories and features it publishes.

Gazettabyte is also delighted to welcome three new sponsors:

Cisco Systems, business information and networking service provider, Layer123, and Transmode.

100 Gigabit 'unstoppable'

Roy Rubenstein — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:12:24 +0000

A Q&A with Andrew Schmitt (@aschmitt), directing analyst for optical at Infonetics Research.

"40Gbps has even less value in the metro than in the core"

Andrew Schmitt, Infonetics Research

FPGA transceiver speed hikes bring optics to the fore

Roy Rubenstein — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:06:54 +0000

Despite rapid increases in the transceiver speeds of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), the transition to optical has begun.

FPGA vendors Xilinx and Altera have increased their on-chip transceiver speeds four-fold since 2005, from 6.5Gbps to 28Gbps. But signal integrity issues and the rapid decline in reach associated with higher speed means optics is becoming a relevant option.

Is wireless becoming a valid alternative to fixed broadband?

Roy Rubenstein — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:59:16 +0000

Are wireless technologies such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMAX2 closing the gap on fixed broadband?

A recent blog by The Economist discussed how Long Term Evolution (LTE) is coming to the rescue of one of its US correspondents, located 5km from the DSL cabinet and struggling to get a decent broadband service.

Peak rates are rarely achieved: the mobile user needs to be very close to a base station and a large spectrum allocation is needed.

Mark Heath, Unwired Insights

2012: A year of unique change

Roy Rubenstein — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:33:12 +0000

The third and final part on what CEOs, executives and industry analysts expect during the new year, and their reflections on 2011.

Karen Liu, principal analyst, components telecoms, Ovum @girlgeekanalyst

"We’ve entered the next decade for real: the mobile world is unified around LTE and moving to LTE Advanced, complete with small cells and heterogenous networks including Wi-Fi."