Expanding network infrastructure with alien wavelength
20 January 2022
The development of 5G, IoT technologies, 4K/8K content and advanced automation have led to a demand for ever higher network capacity. This poses new challenges for carriers, service providers and enterprises to scale up their wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) infrastructure to meet data transmission requirements. Here, Marcin Bala, CEO of telecommunications networks specialist Salumanus, explains how alien wavelength can help telcos expand their infrastructure.
Alien wavelength is a technology that helps increase the capacity of dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) networks without the need to replace the existing infrastructure. This solution enables operators to connect ‘alien’ devices directly into their DWDM multiplexer to obtain extra capacity or deploy encrypted services. Most importantly, it eliminates the need for big investments in infrastructure as additional wavelengths are easily added at any time.
According to the Optical Wavelengths Services Market report, the global alien wavelength market size is expected to grow from USD 3.3 billion in 2018 to USD 4.9 billion by 2023, making it a popular choice among telecom operators.
Variations of alien wavelength
Alien wavelength can be implemented in a number of ways. Firstly, a muxponder-based solution allows for aggregation of lower throughput traffic to a single lambda of 100G/200G/400G capacity. The greater the range of the aggregated traffic, the more universal the muxponder will be. Today, the most popular services are 10/40/100GbE, 8/16/32G FC and OTU2/OTU3/OTU4.
A transponder-based solution enables operators to use the existing network for 400GbE/100GbE/OTU4 transmission with 100G/200G/400G lambdas. In the third variation, an encryption device encrypts the necessary transmission in layer 1 and then transports it over the existing DWDM infrastructure.
Benefits of alien wavelength
An alien wavelength solution can connect high capacity 100G/200G/400G wavelengths over existing third-party vendor DWDM systems. This adds capacity to the existing WDM/OTN networks without any changes to the backbone infrastructure.
Another important advantage of alien wavelength is its economic justification. It’s hard to predict how the demand for bandwidth will rise in different network nodes, as different segments may expand unpredictably and require support for the growing capacity. A compact solution like alien wavelength allows operators to be prepared for these situations and eliminates the need to invest in additional equipment whenever the need for more bandwidth surges.
Due to its encryption abilities, alien wavelength ensures sensitive data is secured either through the addition of wavelengths with embedded Layer-1 optical encryption, or as an add-on to the existing backbone, without any changes to the network. This is particularly useful in applications that require a high level of confidentiality, such as patients records or military files.
Scalability represents another advantage of using alien wavelength. Most manufacturers offer highly integrated solutions with modular pay-as-you-grow architecture. For example, PacketLight offers 1U alien wavelengths devices that form a multi-chassis which can be expanded at any time to add more capacity, without link downtime. Similarly, the 1U footprint means devices take less rack space and have a lower power consumption, significantly reducing capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operating expenses (OPEX).
In today’s changing and demanding telecommunications environment it imperative for service providers to be able to respond quickly to every demand for capacity. Alien wavelength is an ideal and cost-efficient solution to progressively scale bandwidth in DWDM networks and provide integrated data security. Salumanus aims to help operators and service providers select the best possible solutions to meet the requirements of the fast-changing telecommunications world and to guarantee efficient functioning and high returns on investment.
To find out more about alien wavelength solutions, including Salumanus’ offering of PacketLight products, visit www.salumanus.com