OREANDA-NEWS. February 20, 2015. Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) is to offer operators of large networks the ability to quadruple the speed of connections and significantly boost capacity between data centers and networks with an innovation that uses existing IP routing assets, removing the need for costly and time consuming network upgrades.

Alcatel-Lucent is launching a 1-port 400G IP line card for IP networks that will allow data transmission between existing Alcatel-Lucent IP Routers at speeds of 400 gigabits-per-second (400G) line rate over hundreds of kilometers. This gives operators, who are facing increasing pressure from the explosive demand for Internet and cloud data, a greater advantage to push the limits of their IP network capabilities. 

The new Alcatel-Lucent 1-port 400G IP line card – which is powered by FP3 400G routing processor developed by Alcatel-Lucent – provides the communications industry’s first ‘clear channel 400G’ capability. This avoids the need to aggregate IP traffic over multiple 100G links, a more efficient method of transmitting ‘big data’ volumes from operators’ data centers, and between their metro aggregation networks and core networks, and at four times the speeds made possible by IP connectivity today.

The launch of the 400G line card also marks the introduction of another ground-breaking Alcatel-Lucent innovation in high performance IP networking GMPLS-UNI (Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching User Network Interface). To be added to the IP router portfolio in the second half of 2015, this enables operators to coordinate the optical and IP network layers to become even more cost-efficient and migrate smoothly to a cloud-optimized network. Greater control plane co-ordination between IP and optical networks can deliver efficiency gains of 40%, according to a recent study by Bell Labs, the research arm of Alcatel-Lucent.  

About the Alcatel-Lucent 1-port 400G IP line card

  • Quadruples the speed of interconnecting today’s IP networks.
  • Alcatel-Lucent is the first in the industry to offer clear channel IP transport at 400G bit rates. This avoids the need to aggregate IP traffic over multiple 100G links. This offers a more efficient way to transmit big data between operators’ data centers and between their metro aggregation and core networks.
  • Powered by Alcatel-Lucent’s 400G FP3 routing silicon – already proven in hundreds of network deployments worldwide - allowing operators to use it with existing 7750 Service Router (SR) and 7950 Extensible Routing System (XRS) gear.
  • Integrated tuneable DWDM (dense wavelength division multiplexing) optics allow direct interconnection between routers at 400G line rates on a single fibre over distances of hundreds of kilometers, or alternatively as alien wavelengths over a DWDM transport network.
  • The 1-port 400G IP line card will be available for use in Alcatel-Lucent’s XRS IP Core Routers and on its 7750 SRs in the second-half of 2015.
  • Also introducing GMPLS UNI on the Alcatel-Lucent router portfolio to coordinate the IP and optical network layers for simplified operations and cost savings

Quotes:

Michael Howard, principal analyst, carrier networks, IHS-Infonetics Research said: “Network operators are looking for efficient ways handle the video- and cloud-fueled traffic growth in their networks. Alcatel-Lucent’s new 400G IPoDWDM line card helps by eliminating the complexity of 100GE link aggregation and WDM transport with a 400G direct router-to-router link. This industry 1st 400G IP networking line card is based on Alcatel-Lucent’s 400G FP3 silicon, which has been in the field since 2011, and provides new router-to-router scaling for datacenter and data network interconnect applications.”

Basil Alwan, President of IP Routing and Transport, Alcatel-Lucent, said: “The new 1-port 400G IP networking line card is a prime example of the way we are working with customers to evolve their networks smoothly and via innovations that offer programmable networks to deliver the highest performance in meeting the demands of dynamic cloud-based applications and services.”

Steve Vogelsang, CTO for IP Routing and Transport, Alcatel-Lucent said: “Networks need to evolve to ever higher capacity and port speeds, but changes can be costly. The transition from 10G to 100G was very disruptive for many network operators, but today we can say we are the first router vendor to enable the transition from 100G to 400G link speeds, leveraging our FP3 technology so that there is no disruption to operators in terms of  having to retrofit or forklift their installed hardware base.”