Today OpVista took the wraps off of its CX8 optical networking system, which can turbo boost existing 10G fiber networks to 40G and 100G in order to increase bandwidth capacity for services such as high-definition (HD) and video-on-demand (VOD).
The CX8 is the first product to use OpVista’s recently introduced dense multi-carrier technology (DMC). DMC combines advanced multiple carrier photonics, lambda stabilization and multi-level modulation to deliver 40G and 100G bandwidth per wavelength over any type of optical network, from metro to ultra long haul.
Andres Viera, OpVista’s director of product marketing, said there were two keys to CX8. The first is that the system can achieve high network capacity while maintaining compatibility with the characteristics of existing 10G optical infrastructure.
The second is that it allows service providers to upgrade their existing 10G network incrementally with 40G and 100G wavelength overlays, which can be injected into existing network elements as external wavelengths. The result, according to Viera, is that the OpVista CX8 delivers substantial capex and opex savings as compared with conventional 40G technology.
“In a nutshell, we make our wavelength look like a 10 Gigabit channel and behave like a 10 Gigabit channel, but it delivers 40G and 100G,” Viera said. “Most MSOs have metro aggregation rings from the headend to the hubs where they deliver high-speed Internet and video. All they need to do [to install CX8] is add more transponders when they’re adding services.
“The key is getting out new services quickly and not adding new capex to the network. Any time you can do both of those you’ll increase profitability.”
The CX8 delivers fiber capacity of 8 Tbps, which is enough to support one million simultaneous HD video streams on a single fiber.
It also includes a data rate agnostic integrated ROADM for cost-effective network reconfiguration, as well as integrated packet aggregation that grooms packets from multiple service connections.
The OpVista CX8 is managed using the company’s WaveMaster element management system and supports TL1 and XML protocols.
The CX8 with DMC technology is currently in trial deployments with service providers in the U.S. and Europe, including Cox Communications.
“The new OpVista CX8 optical network system with 40G DMC technology provided 40G wavelength insertion over our existing 10G network, without the need for tuning, fiber characterization or re-engineering,” said Chris Saunders, director of data and transport for Cox. “The OpVista CX8 with DMC offers a unique value proposition by enabling us future 40G upgrade capacity, aligning network investments to revenues.”
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