White Paper

Evolution towards volume deployable 40-Gbps networks

Introduction
Despite the slowdown in the deployment of telecommunication equipment in the early 2000s, the demand for bandwidth hasnt stopped increasing. The explosion of video traffic has dictated new requirements on the network, which for a long time has been carrying voice traffic. 20 percent growth every five months in the number of viewers watching video online YouTube.com posts 60,000 new videos a day and is now the sixth most popular site (ahead of AOL) Google Video, launched in 2005, already has a unique audience of 8.6 million Top five most active video websites attracted a combined 72 million unique users; in July 06 alone, on average, users spent 43 minutes each watching videos online
Source: Neilsen/NetRatings

Today, video is no longer restricted to our TV sets. Cell phones, PDAs, wireless home entertainments systems, laptops/desktops and other personal electronic devices all have video capabilities offering the user an enhanced multimedia experience, anywhere, any time. Moreover, delivering video services has shifted from broadcast only to ondemand content (Video-on-Demand, Free-on-Demand, IPTV, etc.), peerto-peer video conferences and Internet

video downloads (e.g. Google videos, YouTube.com, music video clips on iTunes.com, etc.), thus putting more pressure on the network to provide any-to-any high-bandwidth connectivity with high quality of service (see Figure 1, page 2). Furthermore, Enterprise Local Area Networks are now being interconnected over 10-Gbps Ethernet interfaces, storage arrays are running over 10-Gbps Fibre Channel (FC-1200) interfaces and carriers routers are now equipped with

Internet video
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Video bandwidth contribution

Estimated monthly streams delivered (in billions) VoD Bandwidth Wireless Bandwidth VoIP and Multimedia Bandwidth VoD will dictate network cost equation Tier 1 office 720 Gbps 2009

74% VoD

High Speed Data Bandwidth Broadcast Bandwidth

Source: Nortel Analysis - North American Residential Bandwidth Profile

Source: Yankee Group, Aug. 2006

Figure 1. Video-on-Demand (VoD) dictating network requirements

40-Gbps interfaces, thus increasing the transport networks bandwidth capacity becomes more imperative than ever. However, this task comes with many considerations, such as: Minimizing the churn as a result of the increase in network capacity (more wavelengths, more equipment, different network parameters, etc.) Maintaining and enhancing network agility as increasing the network capacity should not make the network rigid and static Reducing OPEX as increasing network capacity should enable cost savings, not cost increases This paper discusses the different options available to service providers and network operators to evolve todays 10-Gbps based transport network to higher capacity and highlights the key considerations, pros and cons of each option.

The massive adoption of 10-Gbps DWDM networking has triggered significant investment in network infrastructure and has set refined and proven practices to design and plan the network for future growth. Therefore, upgrading the network to higher capacity must meet the following requirements: Maximize the utilization of the existing network assets (fiber outlay, NEs, real estate, etc.) Minimize the impact on the current network operations, minimize churn and limit the CAPEX required Maintain the current, well-refined processes of network operations (e.g. planning, engineering, service turnup and troubleshooting, etc.) Maintain and enhance network agility Reflect the new drivers of video services and high-bandwidth applications, and set in place a framework for continuous network evolution to support additional traffic and networking demands Briefly, the migration to a higher capacity transport network needs to be as smooth and seamless as possible. The following sections explore the various upgrade options and their advantages/challenges.

Options
Service providers have addressed the need to increase network capacity in various ways, taking into consideration multiple factors such as cost, longevity, impact on the network, timeframe, etc. For example, maintaining the same signal format (SONET/SDH) while increasing the baud rate (e.g. OC-12/ STM-4 to OC-48/STM-16, OC-48/ STM-16 to OC-192/STM-64) has been one popular option given the relatively easy and cost-effective process (changing the line circuit packs following a pre-tested specific procedure). Simultaneously, service providers have also increased network capacity by leveraging Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) which allows transmitting multiple wavelengths (2.5-Gbps or 10-Gbps) on the same fiber, hence increasing the total network capacity by a factor equal to the number of wavelengths used. So what would be the best option to increase the capacity of the transport network while meeting all the requirements mentioned above? The following section discusses the pros and cons of each option and recommends a winning approach.

Requirements
The introduction of 10-Gbps DWDM networking in the mid 1990s has made a remarkable disruption in the way service providers plan, build and operate the network. It provided new service economics (CAPEX/OPEX) that resulted in the massive deployment of 10-Gbps based transport DWDM networks.
2

Option 1 Decrease the DWDM channel spacing: This option consists of increasing the number of DWDM wavelengths on the fiber by reducing the gap (spacing) between the multiple wavelengths (100 GHz 50 GHz, 50 GHz 25 GHz). Currently, 50 GHz-spaced network elements (terminals, multiplexers, de-multiplexers, filters, etc.) benefit from mature component manufacturing and stable operations. However, further reducing the grid spacing to 25 GHz will create the following challenges: A significant increase in cost for filters due to the added manufacturing complexity. More sophisticated modulation must be used to enable the narrower spacing, thus adding an extra cost to the transponder electro-optics at the terminal sites. Very often, using reduced spacing gaps will have a negative impact on the existing optical link budgets. As a result, additional regeneration is required, thus increasing the cost and network complexity.

Other in-line network building blocks such as fixed OADM and ROADMs, which play a significant role in the design of next-generation photonic networks, were designed around the 100 GHz and 50 GHz spacing metrics. Reducing the spacing to 25 GHz will require a significant re-engineering of the network. Option 2 Increase the baud rate of line systems: This approach consists of increasing the baud rate of the line systems (transmitters and receivers) while maintaining the spacing between wavelengths. This approach has been widely adopted by service providers and network operators to quadruple the bandwidth every upgrade from 622-Mbps (OC-12/STM-4) to 2.5Gbps (OC-48/STM-16) to 10.0-Gbps (OC-192/STM-64). Most likely, 40Gbps will be the next upgrade option from the widely used 10-Gbps line rate network. Networking at a line rate of 40-Gbps will impose significant constraints to the line in order to ensure suitable operations. As a matter of fact, 40-Gbps

TDM is 16 times less tolerant to chromatic dispersion and 4 times less tolerant to PMD than 10-Gbps networks. Moreover, the Differential Group Delay (DGD) caused by Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD) will have to be minimized at a much smaller value than its 10-Gbps equivalent. This, as a result, will restrict the applicability of this solution. Moreover, chromatic dispersion compensation will have to be performed at much tighter specifications than at 10-Gbps, resulting in a higher CAPEX. To allow practical deployment, tunable dispersion compensators (TDC) and/or active PMD compensators may have to be employed, thus adding significant cost to the overall solution and increasing network complexity. In addition, restriction to the number of OADM sites will be imposed due to the smaller tolerance to filter-induced distortion. Traditional implementation of 40-Gbps transponders may well be restricting this solution to a niche rather than a mainstream application.

n-1

DWDM spectrum 50 GHz 50 GHz Channel spacing at 50 GHz 50 GHz

1 2 3 4 5

2n-2 2n-1 2n

DWDM spectrum Channel spacing at 25 GHz 25 GHz spacing Figure 2. Decrease DWDM channel spacing 25 GHz spacing

As described in Option 1 and Option 2, increasing the network capacity by decreasing the DWDM spacing gap or by increasing the line baud rate have significant negative repercussions on cost and network complexity, which will quickly impact the network upgrades business case. The following paragraph highlights an innovative solution from Nortel that allows service providers and network operators to increase network capacity without encountering the difficulties mentioned above. Option 3 Deploy Nortels 40-Gbps next-generation modulation Dual Polarized QPSK: From its extensive list of technology innovations, Nortel offers new digital signal processing (DSP) enhanced optics to enable a practical 40-Gbps system that allows the compensation of Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD) and has similar attributes as Nortel's eDCO (electronic compensation of chromatic dispersion). Nortels 40-Gbps Dual Polarized QPSK solution (option 3) electronically addresses the issues of the 40-Gbps TDM solutions (option 2) listed above, thus unlocking the possibility of massive deployment of high-capacity systems. The method offered by Nortel consists of encoding the 40-Gbps bit stream on two 10-G baud QPSK signals which are encoded onto each of the two orthogonal polarizations of the optical wavelength. At the receiver end, the incoming signal is appropriately processed using a DSP algorithm developed by Nortel. The Chromatic Dispersion (CD) and PMD are automatically compensated, resulting in a decoded 40-Gbps signal. True to the values of Nortel's 10-Gbps eDCO solutions, the 40-Gbps Dual Polarized QPSK solution is convenient to deploy, operate and maintain. In summary,

Nortels 40-Gbps Dual Polarized QPSK solution delivers the following attributes: Allows cost-effective migration as Nortels 40-Gbps Dual Polarized QPSK has better economics than increasing the capacity on 10-Gbps using the previously mentioned options Avoids re-engineering the network as 40-Gbps Dual Polarized QPSK will operate on existing 10-Gbps engineered optical line systems Maintains spectral occupancy of each wavelength as of existing 10-Gbps line systems Avoids the massive deployment of in-line or terminal Dispersion Slope Compensation Modules (DSCMs) to overcome chromatic dispersion Avoids the deployment of optical PMD compensators a key benefit when old fiber plants must be used Is deployable over a route with mixed fiber plant Exploits network agility, reduces OPEX due to wavelength churn and supports a seamless evolution to adaptive all optical networking

Briefly, upgrading the network using Nortels 40-Gbps Dual Polarized QPSK allows service providers and network operators to avoid massive CAPEX investments and maximize the utilization of the existing network assets while maintaining current processes of network operations.

Case study
In order to clearly highlight and to quantify the benefits of Nortels Dual Polarized QPSK (Option 3) over the other two options, Nortel's network planning team has performed a case study on a national optical network spread across 32,000 Km, carrying an average network fill of 25 10-Gbps wavelengths per segment, with 40 Add/Drop sites and a mix of regional and express traffic patterns. At the photonic layer, deploying Nortels Dual Polarized QPSK enables significant savings such as 38 percent and 23 percent over Option 1 and Option 2 respectively, mainly driven by the elimination of DSCMs and the dramatic reduction in the number and the cost of filters, multiplexers/demultiplexers and amplifiers (Figure 3). Option 2 (40-Gbps TDM) requires

Figure 3. Relative cost comparison for the photonic layer between all three options

-23% Relative cost

-38%

Filters/MUX/ DEMUX/Amps DSCM

 No DSCM  Significantly less filters and amplifiers

Option 1
Decrease 10G channel spacing to 25 GHz

Option 2
Increase baud rate to 40-Gbps TDM

Nortel Option 3
40-Gbps Dual Polarized QPSK

precision compensation adjustments at terminal sites due to low tolerance to residual dispersion. Moreover, driven by its engineering complexity, the reach by 40-Gbps TDM is significantly lower than Nortels 40-Gbps Dual Polarized QPSK, hence the requirements for additional regeneration sites and associated photonic components. Furthermore, as deploying Nortels Dual Polarized QPSK will reduce the number of regenerators required, CAPEX and OPEX reduction will be achieved along with network simplification. The results of the case study demonstrate 41 percent reduction in the cost of required terminals and regenerators when deploying Nortels Dual Polarized QPSK (Option 3) versus 40-Gbps TDM (Option 2) as depicted in Figure 4. Figure 5 provides an overall (photonic and service layers) relative cost comparison between all three options in which the advantages of Option 3 are clearly highlighted with 35 percent and 33 percent reduction. Table 1 on page 6 provides more details about the implementation of all three options.

Figure 4. Relative cost comparison for the service layer between all three options

-41% Relative cost

-33%

Regenerators Terminal

 Significantly less regenerators

Option 1
Decrease 10G channel spacing to 25 GHz

Option 2
Increase baud rate to 40-Gbps TDM

Nortel Option 3
Nortels 40-Gbps Dual Polarized QPSK

Figure 5. Total relative cost comparison between all three options

-33% Relative cost

-35%

Regenerators Terminal DCM Filters/MUX/ DEMUX/Amps

Option 1
Decrease 10G channel spacing to 25 GHz

Option 2

Nortel Option 3

Nortels 40-Gbps Increase baud rate to 40-Gbps TDM Dual Polarized QPSK

Building blocks for adaptive all optical networks

The evolution of todays photonic network is about simplifying DWDM line systems, enabling network agility and reducing operating costs. In other words, the network needs to evolve to an adaptive all optical intelligent network. Adaptive: To cost-effectively operate a network that is readily reconfigured to meet all end-to-end demands All optical: To maximize simplicity and the reliability for aggregate demands and minimize OpticalElectrical-Optical (OEO) costs

Intelligent: To continuously optimize as network paths change and services are provisioned on demand Increasing the network capacity leveraging Dual Polarized QPSK technology is one of the key building blocks to build a truly adaptive all optical intelligent network. Enabling any-wavelength-to-anyport connectivity through enhanced Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (eROADM), breaking the physicals limits by providing high-bandwidth connectivity over thousands of Kilometers without the

need for DSCMs through electronic Dynamically Compensating Optics (eDCO), and eliminating truck rolls and reducing sparing costs through tunable lasers and filters are all vital building blocks in creating an adaptive all optical intelligent network that sets a new benchmark in network simplification, CAPEX/OPEX reduction and service velocity.

Table 1. Comparison between all three options

Conclusion
While many options are available to increase network capacity, very few allow achieving this task without re-engineering the network or the need for massive capital investment. Leveraging Nortels Dual Polarized QPSK with eDCO technology allows service providers and network operators to quadruple network capacity while leveraging existing assets and maintaining current planning/ operation processes. This approach will translate to better economics and seamless evolution.
Impact on the existing network

Reduce the DWDM spacing gap to 25 GHz High - Must deploy DSCM for compensation

Increase baud rate to 40-Gbps High

Deploy Nortels 40-Gbps Dual Polarized QPSK Seamless

- No network re- 40-Gbps TDM physical engineering required impairments are 16 times as Nortels solution less tolerant to CD and 4 - Must deploy expensive maintains the existing times less tolerant to narrow band filter (25 GHz) 10-Gbps network PMD than those of 10- Higher power (dB) ampliparameters Gbps networks, therefore: fiers are required due to - The entire network must - No DSCMs required the higher channel count - Higher power consumption is expected due to the added equipment (amplifiers and DSCMs) be re-engineered - Additional sophisticated DSCMs must be deployed to overcome the low tolerance to residual dispersion - Additional regenerators must be deployed - No optical PMD compensators required - Deployable over any fiber plant

Economics 4 times bandwidth at 2.5 times the cost for 40 Gbps

No Costs will increase

No Costs will increase

Yes

Nortels volume deployable Dual Polarized QPSK 40-Gbps: No network re-engineering required No DSCMs required a foundation for agile all optical networking

Network complexity High - Requirements for DSCM - 25 GHz photonic component not mature, therefore missing flexibility such as branching

High - Requirements for DSCM - Requirements for TDC - Requirements for PMDc on some fiber plants - Additional regeneration

Low - No new equipment required - No need for DSCM

Deployability

No optical PMD compensators required simple engineering Deployable over any fiber plant Fulfills the economics of 4 times bandwidth at 2.5 times the cost with regards to 10Gbps volume deployable Fully-deployable solution

Too much additional equipment must be deployed, driving towards a high CAPEX and complex network. Moreover, technical challenges (spectral efficiency) will limit channel count expansion as well as the evolution to 40-Gbps. Long lead time

Niche applications only no massive deployments due to higher costs Long lead time due to network re-engineering, planning and deployment

Volume deployable in mixed 10-Gbps and 40Gbps over any fiber Short lead time gain competitive advantages

Figure 6. Building blocks for adaptive all optical networks

eDCO enables high bandwidth connectivity without DSCM

40-Gbps over existing 10-Gbps lines

Remote connectivity provisioning with tunable lasers and filters eROADM provides unrestricted wavelength connectivity at junction sites Service-rich platforms

Service layer Service-reach platforms (Ethernet, Storage, SONET/SDH, Transparent, etc.) Sub-rate multiplexing Distance extension, GFP, VCAT, etc 40-Gbps over existing 10-Gbps lines

eROADM Any-port-toany-port granularity Multi-degree optical branching

eDCO DCM elimination Extended reach G.709-compliant

Wide range of tunability

Common Photonic Layer Service layer separate from the photonic layer Automation of network operations (power monitoring, end-to-end provisioning, etc.) Open architecture (support for foreign wavelengths)

Control Plane

Tunable lasers/ filters

Acronyms
CAPEX: Capital Expenditures CD: DCM: DSCM: DWDM: eDCO: FC: FEC: Gbps: GigE: IPTV: IP: LAN: MUX: NPV: OADM: OEO: OPEX: PDA: PMD: QPSK: Chromatic Dispersion Dispersion Compensation Modules Dispersion Slope Compensation Modules Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing Electronic Dynamically Compensating Optics Fibre Channel Forward Error Correction Gigabit per Second Gigabit Ethernet IP-based Television Internet Protocol Local Area Network Multiplexer Net Present Value Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer Optical Electrical Optical Operational Expenditures Personal Digital Assistant Polarization Mode Dispersion Quadruple Phase Shift Keying

ROADM: Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer VoIP: Voice over IP

Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that enhance the human experience, ignite and power global commerce, and secure and protect the worlds most critical information. Serving both service provider and enterprise customers, Nortel delivers innovative technology solutions encompassing end-to-end broadband, Voice over IP, multimedia services and applications, and wireless broadband designed to help people solve the worlds greatest challenges. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For more information, contact your Nortel representative, or call 1-800-4 NORTEL or 1-800-466-7835 from anywhere in North America. Nortel, the Nortel logo, Nortel Business Made Simple and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel Networks. All other trademarks are the property of their owners. Copyright 2007 Nortel Networks. All rights reserved. Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Nortel assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document.
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In the United States: Nortel 35 Davis Drive Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 USA In Canada: Nortel 195 The West Mall Toronto, Ontario M9C 5K1 Canada In Caribbean and Latin America: Nortel 1500 Concorde Terrace Sunrise, FL 33323 USA In Europe: Nortel Maidenhead Office Park, Westacott Way Maidenhead Berkshire SL6 3QH UK In Asia: Nortel United Square 101 Thomson Road Singapore 307591 Phone: (65) 6287 2877

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