NBN and Coriant trial terabit super-channel in SE Queensland

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: NBN Co and Coriant announced the successful completion of a one Terabit per second (Tbps) super-channel transmission trial over a 1,066 km fibre optic ring in South East Queensland, Australia using Coriant's innovative FlexiGrid technology on NBNCo's Transit Network.

The National Broadband Network is a wholesale only, open access communications network that delivers very fast broadband and telephony services across Australia.

NBN Co's Transit network is built using established optical fibre made available by third party carriers on long term leases and Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing Equipment that provides connectivity from the access networks, including fibre and wireless, through to points of interconnect with NBN Co's wholesale customers.

The field trial was conducted on NBN Co's network using commercially available hardware and pre-commercial software, over the existing fibre that is currently being integrated into NBN Co's Transit Network.

The trial demonstrated a Tbps super-channel transmission in a 369GHz grid over 1,066 km. It showed a greater than 35 percent improvement in spectral efficiency which significantly increases the capacity of the system.

The trial also demonstrated the flexible allocation of the super-channel by placing it in three separate locations within the c-band which maximizes use of existing fibre resources. This capability, in conjunction with the improvements in spectral efficiency, provides a maximum theoretical transmission capacity of 13 Tbps on existing hardware and fibre over a distance greater than 1,000 km.