Ciena: Japan-US Cable Network Completes 200G Test

Ciena Corporation, the network specialist, reported that the Japan-U.S. Cable Network successfully completed a 200G trial over a segment of its network on the U.S. West Coast, highlighting the flexibility and scalability of Ciena’s submarine solution and confirming the viability of 16QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) 200G submarine deployments using  Ciena’s WaveLogic coherent optical technology.

The trial demonstrates how 16QAM technology can be leveraged to double the number of bits per wavelength to support twice the amount of data compared to standard 100G technology.

Key Facts:

• The Japan-U.S. Cable Network is made up of 35 consortium members, including leading global service providers such as CenturyLink, KDDI, NTT Communications, SoftBank Telecom and Verizon;
• The trial established a 200G capacity link using 16QAM modulation over Ciena’s 6500 Packet Optical platform, equipped with WaveLogic coherent optical processors;
• Giving Japan-U.S. Cable sustainable options to meet increasing customer demands, this technology drives cost savings associated with extending the life of cable infrastructure as well as the financial benefits of an attractive cost-per-bit of higher-capacity 200G transmission;
• The trial was successfully conducted earlier this year on a 630 km submarine segment in California, and builds on the successful deployment in 2013 of Ciena’s 100G submarine solutions across the Japan-U.S. Cable Network.

Masahiro Soma, Japan-US CN management committee chairman / upgrade procurement group co-chairman, commented: “The Japan-U.S. Cable Network is a critical source of capacity for our consortium members. The goal of this trial was to ensure that the cable’s various segments can be equipped with appropriate future-proof technologies to scale network capacity in a cost-effective manner, as needed to meet rapidly increasing demand for bandwidth. This collaboration with Ciena is helping the network prepare for cost-effective growth.”

Ed McCormack, vice president and general manager of Submarine Systems at Ciena, stated: “Thanks to a combination of high-performing coherent optics and compelling economics, Ciena’s submarine solutions are well-suited to address the global push for higher-capacity submarine links – well beyond 100G. With our WaveLogic technology powering several complex submarine cable systems across some of the world’s most challenging geographies, a successful trial of this nature with Japan-U.S. Cable proves that we are ready to take these networks to the next level.”