Verizon Tests 100 Gb/s

Verizon said it completed the first field test of 100 Gb/s optical transmission, on a live, in-service 312-mile (504 km) network route between Tampa, Fla., and Miami. The test, which used a live video feed from Verizon's national FiOS TV network as the payload, was conducted Friday on a Verizon Business ultralong-haul optical system carrying other live traffic at 10 Gb/s.

"The test demonstrated that by deploying advanced electronics, an existing network system can easily and quickly be upgraded to 100 Gb/s," Verizon said in a statement.

Fred Briggs, executive vice president of network operations and technology for Verizon Business, said, "This trial proves what we've been saying: The move from 40 Gb/s to 100 Gb/s will be exponentially quicker than the move from 10 to 40 Gb/s."

Verizon used Alcatel-Lucent's 1625 LambdaXtreme Transport system for the field trial on existing fibers that were initially conditioned for 10 Gb/s service. Unlike other trials that used 10 separate 10 Gb/s wavelengths to carry 100 Gb/s, Verizon said, it used a 100 Gb/s signal on a single wavelength, which it said demonstrates its effort to promote "true" 100 Gb/s in a serial fashion on just one transmission wavelength.

Briggs added, "Transmission at 100 Gb/s will enable low latency and significant improvement in real-time transaction."

As with equipment Verizon used in a 40 Gb/s trial in 2004, the 100 Gb/s equipment used in the recent trial was implemented with a "plug and play" approach. Verizon said this means the technology was used without any changes to the fiber, amplifiers and other embedded equipment -- a key objective for commercial implementation.

For more information, visit: www.verizonbusiness.com/us/