At the 2021 Asia-Pacific Target Network Conference today, Victor Zhou, President of the Optical Transmission Network Domain of Huawei, gave a keynote speech titled “ON2.0 Enables All-Optical Target Network and New Business”.
In this speech, Zhou shared the network construction concept of the all-optical target network. He proposed to deliver an energy-saving network with the optimal TCO by moving OTN to CO. This new network will help operators build differentiated competitiveness and new business development.
All-optical target networks: the cornerstone of future business development
Historically, optical networks have always been transmission networks with the optimal TCO. They boast unparalleled advantages such as ultra-high bandwidth, ultra-low latency, ultra-long lifespan, and low energy consumption. According to industry analysts, these advantages would consolidate an important, irreplaceable position for optical networks during the following 20 years.
In the past, optical networks were used only as infrastructure networks, and were costly for operators. With the emergence of new services that require high bandwidth and low latency, such as VR/AR, HD video, and premium enterprise private lines, optical networks must evolve from infrastructure networks to premium service networks and become the new cornerstone for operator business development. By integrating the latest technologies and solutions, the next-generation optical network ON2.0 implements an all-optical target network that achieves the optimal TCO and energy saving objectives. Through this new network, the rapid development of new 2B, 2H, and 2C services becomes ever more viable.
First, ON2.0 enables a network architecture with one-hop connection, which can remain unchanged for 10 to 20 years. Moreover, it supports on-demand capacity expansion, reducing the TCO of the entire network by over 50%.
Second, ON2.0 can support the development of high-quality services such as premium OTN private lines and premium broadband, significantly increasing the ARPU of operators. In the future, ON2.0 will be able to help operators develop new services such as Cloud VR to further increase their revenue.
Finally, as carbon neutrality has been duly recognized for its importance, all operators are looking for energy-saving network construction technologies. ON2.0 can effectively reduce the carbon emission per bit of a backbone network by maximizing the single-fiber capacity. In addition, innovative product solutions such as optical cross-connect (OXC) and Edge OTN can effectively slash the carbon emission per site on a metro network.
All-optical 3D backbone networks: ultra-high bandwidth, optimal TCO per bit, and maximum fiber value
A backbone network is mainly used for high-bandwidth information transmission between cities. The TCO of the backbone network can be reduced in three ways: increase the single-wavelength rate to cut the TCO per bit; expand the available spectrum of optical fibers to maximize the optical fiber value and reduce the single-fiber TCO; and enable a 5,000 km regeneration-free transmission distance to ensure one-hop transmission between cities and decrease the TCO of the entire network.
Similar to the intergenerational evolution of mobile networks, the backbone network has also experienced five generations of evolution. Starting with single-wavelength 2.5G, the single-wavelength capacity evolved from 10G to 40G, 100G, and even 200G, while the 5,000 km transmission distance was guaranteed with each generation. The single-fiber capacity has been increased to 16T, with TCO per bit reduced constantly. Currently, 200G is the optimal single-wavelength rate on the backbone network. Its transmission performance is equivalent to that of 100G, with single-bit power consumption reduced by 50% and slumped TCO per bit.
In addition to mainstream single-wavelength 200G technology, Huawei also leads development toward single-wavelength 800G. Currently, Huawei supports a single-fiber transmission capacity of 88T, which is 30% higher than the industry average. Simultaneously, the TCO per bit is lowered. Huawei and China Mobile jointly completed a lab test over 1,100 km to test 800G performance and bolster technological development.
In terms of fiber spectrum expansion, Huawei's Super C+L solution increases the number of wavelengths from C-band 96 wavelengths to Super C-band 120 wavelengths. The unique C+L orchestrator technology further enables smooth evolution to Super C+L band 220 wavelengths, ensuring optimal network performance and extending fiber value.
All-optical metro and OTN to CO: optimal TCO and new business development
With the rapid development of 5G, FTTH, and private line services, it is increasingly important to build an FMEC integrated bearer network. OTN to CO enables IP+optical one-hop connection based on a Frog Hop architecture. This solution can effectively slash single-site and network-wide TCOs, reduce network latency, and support new business development. Currently, global mainstream operators are promoting OTN to CO.
For access sites at the edge of a network, Huawei provides the SuperSite solution. In this solution, small-size Edge OTN devices with large capacity and low power consumption are deployed at OLT/IPRAN sites to implement one-hop connection with high bandwidth and on-demand capacity expansion. This solution saves a large number of optical fibers and reduces the network TCO. Edge OTN integrates the functions of multiple subracks of traditional OTN devices into one 2U chassis and supports outdoor pole-mounted deployment, making deployment at edge sites much easier. In addition, the innovative gray light O-band and colored light C-band multiplexing solution is used to reuse IP/SDH networks and allow mobile operators to quickly develop broadband and private line services.
For aggregation and core sites, Huawei launched the innovative E2E OXC solution to address operators' pain points such as complex network O&M and insufficient equipment room space. This solution uses industry-leading all-optical backplanes and all-optical switching technology liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) to achieve zero fiber connections at sites, saving 60% space and 45% power consumption. Moreover, built-in all-optical sensor technology enables automatic fiber connection discovery and automatic optical-layer commissioning, reducing O&M costs by 90%.
Premium OTN private lines bring more business opportunities around the world
In the future, development will diversify manyfold.
According to the Omdia analyst report, the market space of premium OTN private lines is growing rapidly, with an average annual growth rate of more than 10%. This greatly outplays that of the 2C and 2H markets. The main driving force is the differentiated requirements of industry customers on network capabilities. Operators need to transform the business model of selling bandwidth and ports to the monetization model of differentiated network capabilities.
Currently, only OTN technology can provide 100% commitment and guarantee for differentiated network capabilities, helping operators realize business monetization and increase revenue. Now, more than 80 OTN private line networks have been deployed worldwide, and the ROI period of them all is less than two years.
For head enterprises, operators use OTN P2P private lines to provide 100% guaranteed network connections with high security and bandwidth and low latency, meeting high quality requirements.
For SMEs, operators use premium OTN P2MP private lines. OTN is deployed at OLT sites to offer both high quality and wide coverage, deliver all-optical smart buildings, and provide leading differentiated products and services.
The future-oriented all-optical network era is coming. Huawei will continue to release industry-leading all-optical solutions to help customers build an all-optical target network with the optimal TCO.
Source: https://www.huawei.com/en/news/2021/9/otn-tco-p2mp-88t-supersite