GÉANT awards Infinera contract to deploy 600G optical technology

20 Jul 2020

Latest development phase to interconnect pan-European research and education community.

Europe's terabit-ready network GÉANT, an international collaboration on communications infrastructure and services for research and education, has selected Infinera’s 600G optical transmission technology for its next phase of development. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Using Infinera’s Groove (GX) Series Compact Modular Platform, FlexILS Open Optical Line System, and professional services, GÉANT is undertaking a significant refresh of its network in a decade as part of a major EU-funded project designed to support the needs of Europe’s research and education community for the next 15 years.

The amount of critical data generated by scientists and researchers from areas such as bioinformatics, medicine, physics, astronomy, and climate change is growing exponentially, and GÉANT and its NREN partners must stay well ahead of requirements.

While GÉANT’s current terabit-ready network is said to be the most advanced and well-connected regional research and education network in the world, the need to stay ahead of requirements for years to come is vitally important to scientific collaboration and discovery, says Infinera.

600G per wavelength

Infinera says that with its networking solutions, “GÉANT can effectively provide high-speed services to its customers using efficient, high-capacity 600G per wavelength transmission. Additionally, the scalable network is designed to enable GÉANT to scale capacity to multiple terabits seamlessly, meeting rapidly growing bandwidth demand. Leveraging advanced features from the GX G30 and FlexILS, GÉANT can provide a high level of security, service reliability, and disaster recovery.”

Nick Walden, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales at Infinera, commented, “GÉANT provides network and collaboration services that facilitate important international cooperation between researchers and educators, and we are proud to support their efforts with cutting-edge optical technology that delivers what they need and provides peace of mind.”

Erik Huizer, Chief Executive Officer, GÉANT, added, “The success of our GÉANT (GN4-3N) project is essential for Europe’s research and education communities and will ensure GÉANT and our NREN partners continue to enable scientific discoveries, remote learning for millions of students, and the realization of open science.”

Adva and OTN partner on optical industrial connectivity

Optical networking systems developer Adva is partnering with OTN Systems to address key connectivity challenges for industrial applications. The companies are teaming up to offer joint end-to-end networking solutions built with best-in-class technology and specifically designed for the industry sector.

Now customers in transportation, oil and gas, mining and electrical power utilities can smoothly transition from their legacy SONET/SDH infrastructure and realize the benefits of packet transport.

Featuring OTN Systems’ XTran MPLS-TP layer combined with ADVA FSP 3000 OLS technology, the tailor-made solutions are ruggedized for the harshest environments. They also provide stringent synchronization and comprehensive in-service monitoring, ensuring the levels of availability needed for the most advanced industrial demands.