Telefonica in 800 Gbps trial and network slicing pilot test
Telefonica and its network suppliers Nokia and Huawei have reached data transmission speeds of up to 800 Gbps in two pilot tests of photonic mesh technology. This trial reached speeds of 400 Gbps between Madrid and Barcelona (a distance of 830 kilometres), rising to 800 Gbps in a trial over shorter distances (47 kilometres) in the Madrid metropolitan area.
In a statement, Telefonica said the photonic mesh layer uses WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) technology to achieve higher capacity, reduced latency and far lower energy consumption compared with traditional optical network transmission.
The high-speed trial used Huawei’s OSN 9800 optical equipment and Nokia’s 1830 Photonic Service Switch and 7950 XRS IP router.
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Separately, Telefonica is coordinating a 5G Network Slicing pilot test with Cisco and the University of Vigo. The objective is to demonstrate how flexible 5G networks can devote specific capacities to different services and customers.This project consists of implementing a demonstrator on laboratory infrastructure at the facilities of the University of Vigo, where three slices will be deployed in order to offer distinctive services: low latency, high bandwidth and emergencies. This will enable, for example, customers to make use of the 5G network and enjoy ultra high-definition content while guaranteeing the resources of the mobile network in the event of an emergency in the area.
With this initiative the intention is also to begin building services for customers to be marketed via Telefónica’s 5G network. The project will thus enable Telefónica to obtain key results that will serve to drive the ecosystem and promote the interoperability and standardisation of this technology with a view to its marketing towards the end customer. Some of the sectors that can benefit the most from Network Slicing are the State Security Corps and Forces, media and communication, cars, industry and hotels.
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Eight hundred giga bits per second is a fantastically fast speed for transmitting data. And the use of photonics is interesting as well. It supports the observation that one likely future for technology is the use of light, or technologies that mimic certain properties of light. Fascinating article, thank you for putting the time into this piece.
Bret, Thanks for your kind words. You should know that 400G b/sec optics was standardized by both IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet) and ITU-T SG15 (OTN) over 10 years ago. The most recent standard is IEEE 802.3cu-2021 – IEEE Approved Draft Standard for Ethernet Amendment: Physical Layers and Management Parameters for 100 Gb/s and 400 Gb/s Operation over Single-Mode Fiber at 100 Gb/s per Wavelength
However, only Ciena was able to make commercially viable 400G transceivers/transponders which have deployed in various backbone carrier networks (e.g. AT&T in 2020).
To the best of my knowledge, 800G has yet to be deployed.