Sending 33 HD films in a sec! Huawei and Proximus successfully transfer 1 Tbps data over optical signal
A joint trial in the backbone of Proximus that occurs in speeds over an optical signal, a so called super-channel, of up to one Terabits per second (Tbps) has been successfully finished by Huawei and Proximus. This speed has a close similarity with the process of sending 33 HD films in a single second.
A new round of digital movement has already begun and the future of the world will be super-connected. More and more bandwidth will be required to stay forward of the needs of the customers and the telecom industry will have to be prepared to deal with these growing demands. The backbone, which is the true central part of a telecom network is an important element to make this possible.
The trial is the first result of the association on a new method that Huawei and Proximus have been occupied in January. It is the first time that this Huawei technology has been carried out with an operator throughout the world: a single super-channel OTN Card with a transmission speed of 1 Tbps on Proximus’ optical backbone.
The objective of the test was to find out whether this technology can be combined into the central network, to expect the continuous and increasing customers demand for more bandwidth. Thanks to this Huawei technology, the successful trial shows that the Proximus future optical backbone with a capacity of 200Gbps channels can develop rapidly and effectively to 400Gbps channels and even 1Tbps super channels in the future. Therefore, we can upgrade the transmission capacity of the central network links from 16Tbps to 20Tbps by using the current optical platform, slot and chassis again.
Using an advanced ‘Flexgrid’ infrastructure with Huawei’s ‘Optical Switch Node OSN 9800 platform, the record transmission speed was performed over a 1,040 kilometer fiber link. This strategy increases the capacity on a fiber cable by squeezing the gaps between transmission channels. The approach increases the density of the transmission channels on fiber, making it around 150% more effective than today’s typical 100Gbps core network links.
What is particularly remarkable was that the test was performed with the Huawei 1Tbps OTN line card. OTN stands for Optical Transport Network and provides the functionality for flexible, effective and data agnostic filling of high speed signals.
Jeffrey Gao, President of the Huawei transmission network product line says “The network is turning to DC (Data Center) centric, which brings a boost demand for increased bandwidth. Businesses are currently undergoing a digital transformation and consumers require always-on connectivity. Huawei supports its customers through innovation; together we build simplified networks ensuring the best user experience towards end users. This trial is testimony of Huawei’s engagement to innovation.”
“At Proximus we pledge to satisfy the evolving customers demand by investing in new technologies to offer them the best quality and service. Together with Huawei we want to let our network infrastructure evolve to support current and future bandwidth demands and offer our customers an outstanding user experience,” says Geert Standaert, Chief Technology Officer at Proximus.
