Verizon recently completed a field trial with 100 gigabit-per-second Ethernet (100GE) on a metro Ethernet infrastructure.
The trial used Alcatel-Lucent gear deployed in Verizon’s switched Ethernet services (SES) network in Dallas, with data successfully transmitting data over 12.7 kilometers (7.9 miles) over field fiber.
Verizon SES is a next-generation switched Ethernet service allowing customers to easily interconnect locations within a metrowide network as well as access both private and public WANs using optical fiber-based access.
The trial was run from June 14 to 18 and used existing Alcatel-Lucent 7450 switching equipment with new plug-in cards to place native 100GE traffic on a single fiber for the high-speed links.
Alcatel-Lucent’s 74540 ESS nodes used 100GE service interfaces with 100GBASE-LR10 optics, providing low-cost, high-bandwidth transport over distances of up to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).
The use of 100GE in a metro application dovetails quite nicely with Verizon’s testing of live 100G hardware over the past three years in longer-haul applications with different vendors. Verizon worked with Alcatel-Lucent to do a 100G optical transmission on a fiber route between Tampa, Florida and Miami, while Verizon worked with Nortel and Nokia Siemens for other 100G demonstrations.