Transport / Optics
Latest News / Articles
Miles of optical fiber crafted aboard ISS marks manufacturing first. [The Register]
How scaling optical networks is soon to change. [GazettaByte]
Coherent optical transceivers. [Geoff Huston]
A coherent roadmap for co-packaged optics. [GazettaByte]
NTT and NEC boost optical network capacities by 12 times. [The Register]
400 gigabit Ethernet. [ipSpace]
Engineers shatter fibre optic speed record at 22.9 Pbs. [ExtremeTech]
Roar of cicadas was so loud it was picked up by fibre optic cables. [Ars Technica]
Marvell kickstarts the 800G coherent pluggable era. [GazettaByte]
Optical networking's future. [GazettaByte]
Why don't enterprises believe telcos on optical networking? [No Jitter]
Working at the limit of optical transmission performance. [GazettaByte]
The real optical network revolution still hasn't happened yet. [No Jitter]
Fibre to everywhere. [GazettaByte]
400GE optics. [ipSpace]
How DSP smarts continue to improve optical transport. [GazettaByte]
History of fibre optic cables. [ipSpace] [Geoff Huston]
BT's IP-over-DWDM move. [GazettaByte]
Ciena's multi-format 400G coherent QSFP-DD pluggable. [GazettaByte]
Broadcom sample first 51.2Tbps switch chip. [GazettaByte]
PBT / PBB-TE
PBT : Provider Backbone Transport
PBB : Provider Backbone Bridges
PBT was created to use Ethernet for connection-oriented purposes (similar to SONET/SDH, ATM and optical networks). It strips the complexity out of standard Ethernet by removing spanning tree, flooding and broadcasting. It works as follows:
Spanning tree, flooding and broadcasting are turned off.
Elements of Q-in-Q (IEEE 802.1ad), MAC-in-MAC (IEEE 802.1ah) and OAM (IEEE 802.1ag) are added. PBB-TE proposes additional extensions for path protection.
The control plane becomes centralised (as opposed to distributed). This simplifies things, as there is no need for distributed routing and signalling protocols (i.e. no need to run BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, RSVP-TE or LDP signalling versions of MPLS).
Although complexity is removed from the Ethernet control plane, it is added to the provisioning system, so the overall complexity remains the same.
PON
PON primer. [Wikipedia] [TechTarget]
Working with optical networking's new capabilities. [TechTarget]
Best practices for optical network design. [TechTarget]
Passive Optical Networks [IOS Hints]
Older News / Articles
Optics are more important that your switches at 400GE. [Packet Pushers]
Will optics ever replace copper interconnects? [The Register]
ADVA optical engines adds bidirectional multiplexing. [GazettaByte]
400Gbps is the new normal for networks. [The Register]
The various paths to co-packaged optics. [GazettaByte]
Preparing for a post-pluggable optical module world. [GazettaByte]
Adva 800G CoreChannel. [GazettaByte]
Nokia adds 400G coherent optics across its platforms. [GazettaByte]
Japan breaks Internet speed record with 319Tbps data transfer. [Engadget]
BT takes deep dive into hollow-core fibre. [GazettaByte]
Enabling 800-gigabit optics with physical layer ICs. [GazettaByte]
100-gigabaud optics usher in the era of terabit transmissions. [GazettaByte]
Telecoms embrace 400ZR optics for IP-over-DWDM. [GazettaByte]
Ethernet Alliance on 800G and the next Ethernet rate. [GazettaByte]
Ethernet standards group leaves its name in the dust as it details new 800Gbps spec. [The Register] [Hexus]
400G Ethernet and Open Networking -- a power combination. [Packet Pushers]
400G coherent pluggables finally emerge. [GazettaByte]
The intersection of optical transport and routing in next-generation networks. [NANOG 77]
Everything you always wanted to know about optical. [NANOG 77]
Introducing transmission technologies. [ipSpace]
Features added around 400ZR aims to bring order to 400ZR+. [GazettaByte]
Optical group paves analog path to 400G. [EETimes]
Trends in 400G optics for the DC. [NANOG 75 YouTube]
Building the 400G Internet -- trends, technologies, and the road to 800G. [NANOG 75 YouTube]
Researchers pioneer on-chip optical links. [HEXUS]
"Twisted" fibre optic light breakthrough could make Internet 100 times faster. [HardOCP] [The Guardian] [Russ White]
5 things you should know about dark fibre. [Network Computing]
Chasing Shannon's limit. [Russ White] [APNIC Blog]
T-API taps into the transport layer. [GazettaByte]
What to consider when leasing dark fibre. [DC Journal] [Russ White]
661Tbps through a single optical fibre. [Ars Technica]
Optical module trends: a conversation with Finisar. [GazettaByte]
The nature of optical networking. [Packet Pushers]
Comments on vendor optics. [PacketU]
Caring for fibre optic cables: damaged is worse than broken. [Packet Pushers]
P-Fat trees. [Russ White]
CableLabs at 4Tbps. [The Register]
What is vOLT-HA? [Russ White]
Optical networks prepare for 400G and beyond. [EETimes] [DC Journal]
Optical transceivers in open networks. [NANOG 72 YouTube]
Networks really run on rainbows. [ipSpace] [Meanderful]
Dim fibre. [Russ White] [ECI Telecom]
Finisar's 10 Gig bi-directional DWDM architecture. [GazettaByte]
Twisted light wireless “could make fibre-optics obsolete”. [Hexus]
Fibre optic lines can double as earthquake detectors. [Engadget]
The many paths to 400Gbps. [GazettaByte]
Acacia announces a 1.2 terabit coherent module. [GazettaByte]
Oclaro's 400Gbps plans. [GazettaByte]
COBO targets year-end to complete 400- and 800-gigabit interface specification. [GazettaByte]
SFP-DD: Turning the SFP into a 100-gigabit module. [GazettaByte] [Mellanox]
Heavy Reading's take on optical module trends. [GazettaByte]
Optical transceiver modules to double in density. [EETimes]
Behind the 200G hype. [Russ White] [ECI Telecom]
The OIF’s 400ZR coherent interface starts to take shape. [GazettaByte]
Software is the future of optical. [Russ White] [ECI Telecom]
Coherent optics players target the network edge for growth. [GazettaByte]
Packaging silicon photonics using passive alignment. [GazettaByte]
Constellations and MIMO to take fibre to a future beyond the terabit. [The Register]
Smart semi-fibre does it all. [EETimes]
Nokia blasts 250 Gbps across Atlantic in optical test. [The Register]
Do not buy 40GE Ethernet -- it's obsolete. [Packet Pushers]
Google calls for optical leaps. [EETimes]
Optical encryption moves to ubiquitous. [Russ White] [ECI Telecom]
Optics evolution and challenge for router interface. [NANOG YouTube]
Router optics evolution and market trends. [EtherealMind] [Nokia PDF]
Updated: Everything you always wanted to know about optical networking. [NANOG YouTube]
Everything you always wanted to know about optical networking. [EtherealMind] [NANOG YouTube]
NTT ready to demo 1.44 petabit-per-second fibre cables. [The Register] [OSA]
Silicon photonics merging ahead. [EETimes]
The year of silicon photonics. [Russ White] [TheNextPlatform]
High speed optical networking. [Russ White] [ECI Telecom]
Intel's 100-gigabit silicon photonics move. [GazettaByte]
Happy 50th birthday, optical fibres for telecoms. [The Register]
The new frontiers of silicon photonics. [GazettaByte]
Researchers test light patterns for 100x boost to optical networks. [Hexus]
Fiber optic multi-core per core. [EtherealMind] [phys.org]
Optical integration and silicon photonics: a view to 2021. [GazettaByte]
Chromatic dispersion compensation: extending your reach. [DC Journal] [Russ White]
100Gbps the next stop on PON's roadmap. [GazettaByte]
Here's why we don't have light-based computing just yet. [ExtremeTech]
World's smallest optical switch uses just a single atom. [Gizmodo] [Hexus]
Researchers create photonic microprocessor. [THG]
PMC unveils 240Gbps OTN framer for IP core and edge routers. [GazettaByte]
A tiny silicon disc is the world's fastest nanoscale optical switch. [Gizmodo]
Boffins have made optical transistors that can reach 4 terahertz. [The Register]
Alcatel-Lucent clocks 300 Gbps over 10,000 km submarine cable. [The Register] [ALU]
New networking record set with 12,000 km fiber data run. [The Register] [Gizmodo] [UCSD] [Hexus]
IBM announces silicon photonics breakthrough, set to break 100Gb/s barrier. [ExtremeTech] [DC Knowledge] [HardOCP] [TechRadar]
Visible light networking: 200Gbps without a fibre. [The Register]
UK boffins double distance of fiber data: London to New York without a repeater. [The Register]
Why replacing the fibre optic patch lead often fixes network problems. [EtherealMind]
Difference between OS1 and OS2 fibre optic cable. [Etherealmind]
'Twisted light' beamed across Vienna. [BBC News]
Optical networking: the key to enabling mass 4K Ultra HD adoption — and beyond. [Wired]
255Tbps: world’s fastest network could carry all of the internet’s traffic on a single fiber. [ExtremeTech] [Gizmodo] [The Register] [Engadget]
43Tbps over a single fibre. [HardOCP] [ExtremeTech] [Gizmodo] [Hexus] [The Register]
Intel’s 800Gbps cables headed to cloud data centers and supercomputers. [Ars Technica] [Gizmodo]
This new "pure" laser makes fibre optic networks 20x better. [Gizmodo] [PNAS]
Fibre resources. [Reddit]
10gig over single strand of fibre. [StackExchange]
Factors that determine compatibility of SFPs with new fibre services? [StackExchange]
Is SFP+ just a smaller version of XPF? [Network Sherpa]
10G transceivers. [Network Sherpa YouTube]
DT Terastream: designed for simplicity. [ipSpace: part 1, part 2]
How fibre optics are reinventing the Internet and communications industry. [T&M]
Researchers beat fiber optic broadband speeds using visible LED light. [Engadget] [BBC News] [Gizmodo]
Twisted laser vortex breakthrough could lead to near-infinite bandwidth, new science. [ExtremeTech] [Gizmodo]
Intel demos inexpensive 100Gbps silicon photonics chip. [The Register]
At the Optical Transport Conference, a 100G party. [DC Knowledge]
100Gbps and beyond: what lies ahead in the world of networking. [Ars Technica]
Graphene-powered optical networks could lead to petabit and exabit transmission speeds. [ExtremeTech]
ITU bellheads and IETF netheads clash over transport networks. [Ars Technica]
Divide between ITU and IETF take on MPLS OAM runs deep. [Ars Technica]
Fibre optic cables' data capacity may soon be reached. [BBC News] [Science]
Traffic grooming in optical networks: making real-world choices. [IOS Hints] [Search Telecom]
What is Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV)? [CCIE Blog]
© Robert Larsen. All rights reserved.