White Paper Solving the 100Gbps transmission challenge

Business drivers for 100G

It is interesting to note that the expected initial pull-through for 100Gbps transmission is savings in router ports and their utilization efficiency for packet flows. Transporting the aggregate backhaul traffic for residential and business services delivered over fixed or wireless last mile to network service/server nodes and Internet peering points defines the role of todays optical network. Looking at an example architecture, as shown in Figure 1, it can be composed of several metro networks connected to a regional or collector network, which is then linked to a long haul network for national or global transport. Traffic data pattern analysis shows that the primary bandwidth drivers are high-speed Internet across regional and long haul networks, and uni-cast video traffic in metro networks. Using a conservative estimate of traffic growth over the next few years, 100G wavelengths would be required in volume in the 2012 timeframe, primarily in long haul applications, moving subsequently to regional and metro networks. The more immediate driver for 100Gbps transport stems from high-capacity router interconnectivity. The industry (IEEE P802.3ba) is strongly pushing for more efficient transport of IP traffic using 100Gb Ethernet versus 10 x 10GbE ports, triggering the need for 100Gbps optical transport. 100GbE ports on routers will instigate an early adoption phase of 100G optical transport in the 2010 timeframe.

A glance at the standards

There are three standards bodies presently engaged with defining the standards associated with 100Gbps transmission: the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF).

Figure 1. Example network architecture

~5% global traffic

Global Hub 1

~10% national traffic

National Hub 1

~15% regional traffic

Regional Hub 1

... ... ...

National Hub N

Regional Hub N

~70% business, voice and HSD remains here

T1

T1

VSO

WL POP

T2 T3

VSO

WL POP

T2 T3

Residential

Wireless

Business

Residential

Wireless

Business

Client Signal Format The IEEE has created a project, IEEE P802.3ba, which is a single task force with the objective to define both 40Gbps Ethernet and 100Gbps Ethernet client signals. With task force meetings underway as of January 2008, a strong view exists at this point of the final 100GbE physical layer options: Aggregate rate 103.125 Gbps 7m over copper, based on 10 x 10G (100GBASE-CR10) 100m on multi-mode fiber, based on 10 x 10G, with 10 fibers per direction (100GBASE-SR10) 10 km on single-mode fiber, based on 4 x 25G, 800GHz spacing DWDM (100GBASE-LR4) 40 km single-mode fiber, based on 4 x 25G 800GHz spacing DWDM (100GBASE-ER4) The 10km and 40km single-mode fiber variants are most relevant for optical transport.
2

The technical specifications for 100GbE are essentially defined at this point. On November 20th, 2009, the IEEE 802 Executive Committee approved forwarding the draft of IEEE P802.3ba for sponsor balloting, the final of two stages of balloting. The 100GbE standard is expected to be completely ratified in June 2010. Line-Side Signal The ITU is defining how the 40GbE and 100GbE signals should be carried through the network from the line side of optical transmission equipment. Service providers require that the 40GbE be carried inside the existing ODU3 (Optical channel Data Unit), and the ITU is defining a new ODU4/OTU4 format to carry 100GbE (OTU4 is the ODU4 with FEC added). The rate and frame format specifications for the OTN signals are expected to be completed by the end of December 2009.

ITU has defined that the OTU4 line rate will be 112Gbps (optimal for carrying 1 x 100GbE) rather than 130Gbps, which would have been optimal for carrying 3 x 40GbE or 3 x ODU3s. Because of the many proprietary modulation formats used by the various equipment vendors, there is no forecast date for agreement on the specifications for the modulation format that will be employed on the optical line. It is agreed, however, that of all the formats being considered, Dual Polarization (Dual Pol) Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), proposed by Nortel, is the only format viable for deployment with a 50GHz channel spacing, because of its capability to pass through multiple Optical AddDrop Multiplexers (OADMs) and its practical PMD tolerance. To underscore the gaining popularity of this proposed scheme, the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) is working on implementation agreements for 100G DWDM components that will include

consensus on such items as an "Integrated Polarization Multiplexed Quadrature Modulated Transmitter", "Integrated Dual Polarization Intradyne Coherent Receiver" and a "168-pin Transponder Module". The modulation format being proposed in the OIF project is the Dual Pol QPSK format. Bottom line Will the standards timeline delay deployment of 100G systems until the second half of 2010? The answer is no for the 100G line systems carrying 10x10G traffic signals. There is no commercial requirement for equipment vendors to support mid-span meet interoperability. With the initial availability of single mode fiber IEEE compliant 100GbE pluggable devices planned for Q2 2010, timing for 100GbE transport is indeed expected towards the second half of 2010, as it is a requirement that standard 100GbE client-side hand-off is supported between vendors.

following items stand out: Loss of 10dB of signal margin, potentially impacting system reach if not compensated Difficulty in compensating for chromatic dispersion increases by a factor of 100 Sensitivity to polarization mode dispersion increases by a factor of 10 Signals have higher spectral occupancy, leading to increased distortion when passing through OADMs/ROADMs, resulting in reduced reach Economic realities Service providers need to be able to rapidly deliver high-capacity connections to their customers to and from anywhere on the network. This prohibits using solutions that require weeks of engineering and modifications to the existing architecture. Having recently invested significantly in their network infrastructure, service providers want 100G signals to be

completely compatible with their 10G/40G line designs. They want to use the same deployed amplifier system, they want the same elimination of optical dispersion compensation, the same tolerance to PMD and other types of degradations, the same reach without additional costly regeneration, and in addition, the same compatibility with 50GHz multidegree ROADM deployment. There is one final requirement: the 100G solution needs to be more cost-effective than 10 separate 10G wavelengths, providing a lower cost per transmitted Gigabit. Operators have made a significant investment in their existing infrastructures and fiber assets. As the demand for bandwidth continues to surge in this everincreasing competitive and continually changing market environment, they need to be able to leverage existing assets for quick service turn-up.

Caught between physical and economic realities of 100Gbps transmission

Physical realities As the line transmission rates are increased from 10Gbps to 40Gbps to 100Gbps, it becomes increasingly challenging to meet the same system performance parameters that service providers are accustomed to at 10Gbps that have helped dramatically reduce network-level CAPEX and OPEX. The traditional Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) method of increasing the system line rate by increasing the baud rate (shorter pulses) requires more expensive opto-electronics the main cost in a DWDM transponder and results in poorer performance. For example, if one wants to compare the challenges posed by 100G with respect to 10G transmission, the
3

Figure 2. Dual Polarization QPSK

Solving the 100Gbps transmission challenge

Some recent technical breakthroughs proposed by Nortel have shown how it is possible to meet both economic and technical challenges associated with 100G transmission. In February 2008, at the Optical Fiber Conference/National Fiber Optical Engineer Conference, Nortel demonstrated 100Gbps of error-free transmission, where the 100G was adjacent to 10G and 40G channels in a 50GHz grid, over 1000km of uncompensated mixed fiber (three different fibers). One month later at the 71st IETF conference in Philadelphia, Comcast and Nortel conducted the first live 100G field trial, where 1,000 of the worlds top engineers accessed the Internet over Nortel 100Gbps prototype equipment for close to a week. The 100Gbps connection was established and operated with commercial-grade quality of service, and without impacting the existing traffic on the Comcast network, underlining the robustness and
Vertical Polarization Horizontal Polarization Dual Polarization

Rx Data before DSP

Rx Data after DSP

Dual Polarization

Quadrature Phase Shift Keying

value of the Nortel approach. The technology that made this possible is Dual Polarization QPSK modulation with a coherent receiver. Dual Pol QPSK modulation lowers the baud rate of the system, using four bits per symbol, keeping the optical spectrum four times narrower than if the baud rate had not been reduced. The key breakthrough factor of the solution is the coherent receiver. For the past 30 years, optical system receivers have been receiving signals by detecting the intensity of the transmitted

signal, which was simply turned on and off. This is equivalent to the operation of amplitude modulated (AM) channels on the radio. A coherent receiver operates by mixing a local oscillator and the incoming signal to be received. If the local oscillator is tuned into the frequency of the incoming signal, then only the information from the incoming signal is extracted, and neighboring channel information is ignored. Nortel applied this method, which is common to most modern radio receivers, towards solving optical transmission challenges at higher line rates in a very innovative implementation. The coherent receiver is able to lock into the frequency and phase of the incoming signal and is thus able to recover the incoming dual polarization QPSK bits appropriately. The coherent receiver allows for a linear response in detecting the electric field, compared to the squarelaw response of conventional photodetectors. With dispersion being a linear filtering phenomenon, the coherent receiver can now perform linear compensation to remove the dispersion factor from the signal. This technology is an extension of the one already commercially available in Nortels 40G solution. With Nortels 40G coherent Dual Pol QPSK solution, 40G of traffic can be carried in distances of

2000km, with full electrical dispersion compensation. There is no need for either in-line or in-shelf separate dispersion compensation modules and any additional amplifiers these would require. The coherent receiver also allows 40Gbps/wavelength transmissions to be achieved on a PMD challenged outside plant, on fiber that is even unsuitable for 10G transmission. Moreover, because of the narrower spectral occupancy, the signals can pass through numerous 50GHz ROADMs with 10G-like impact on reach. To realize the 100Gbps design, Nortel has implemented coherent Frequency Division Multiplexing of two Dual Pol QPSK-modulated sub-carriers. The resulting signal carries the full 112Gbps of payload within a single 50GHz channel on the ITU grid, and is seen and operationally managed by the system as one wavelength. The 100G solution exhibits similar transmission attributes as Nortel's 40G solution, enabling operation over existing 10G network designs and fiber, and requiring no external compensation. Figure 3 displays the spectrum of three 50GHz spaced signals: 10G, 40G

Figure 3. Spectrum display of Nortel 10G, 40G and 100G wavelengths

-23.8 dBm

Power (2.0dB/div)

-33.8 dBm

-43.8 dBm 1551.53nm 1552.28nm 1553.03nm

Frequency (0.15nm/div)

and 100G from Nortel. The Nortel 100G solution fully meets and exceeds commercial requirements for 100Gbps transmission where it is needed in the network: Supports eighty-eight 50GHz wavelengths of 100Gbps Can work over the same fiber alongside 10G and 40G wavelengths Supports reach of 1,000+km Requires no dispersion or PMD compensators

Operates with better tolerance to PMD than todays 10G systems Can pass through 10+ ROADMs (50GHz-spaced) with minimal reach penalty

100Gbps transmission challenge solved!

In summary, service providers deploying a Nortel 40G coherent solution can evolve their networks to add 100Gbps wavelengths as soon as their business dictates, deploying 100Gbps on their existing network with similar transmission attributes as those currently allowed today. This ability is made possible by exploiting linear coherent receiver characteristics. With Nortel delivering its commercially available 100G solution since December 2009, the 100Gbps transmission challenge has been solved; on to the next challenge!

Figure 4. Network view of 10G, 40G and 100G transmission

40/100 Gbps over existing 10 Gbps lines

Tunable lasers ROADM at junction sites

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 Phone: 00 800 8008 9009 In Asia: Nortel United Square 101 Thomson Road Singapore 307591 Phone: (65) 6287 2877

Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortels technologies are designed to help eliminate todays barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries around the world. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit www.nortel.com/news. 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 2008 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. NN123688-121009

BUSINESS MADE SIMPLE