Petabit capacity 'on the horizon'

Next-generation petabit capacity is not far off, according to an industry expert who claims that the present bandwidth explosion is only the beginning.

Inter Digital Networks (IDN), a broadband service provider, believes that Moore's Law - which predicts a two-fold increase in capacity every 18 months - is being exceeded.

Adrian Hobbins, chief technology officer at IDN, said: "We will see terabit capacity in the first quarter of 2001 and petabit in 2002. There is another strand lying in wait for petabit. It is just over the horizon in the labs."

By deploying Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) in combination with SDH systems it is possible to bypass the problem of fibre exhaust. DWDM can multiply the capacity of existing fibre routes by sending hundreds of colour waves down a single strand of fibre.

Each colour can support 10Gbps and there are now approximately 160 colours. "The next generation of capacity in the labs will have 300-500 colours, with each colour supporting 40Gbps. Lucent are experimenting with 160Gb down one colour," said Hobbins.

IDN is deploying a national terabit capacity DWDM platform and leapfrogging the legacy services from existing telecom providers. The company is implementing a backbone network directly onto the optical layer after the unbundling of the local loop in January 2001.