Suppose you need to bring 100G transmission to distances over 40km, either to improve the quality of current service or to support future demand. This could be an 120km connection between two data centers, or two buildings 80km apart in the same municipality.
The biggest challenges to planning this upgrade have been cost and complexity. For example, ACO/DCO coherent solutions can require extensive tuning and fiber knowledge to deploy, and also require new purpose-built line cards. ROADMs have a massive physical footprint and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, there is now a much simpler, more cost-effective option…
A PAM4 Open Line System.
In addition to costing a fraction of a ROADM and far less than a coherent solution, the true benefit of these PAM4 solutions is simplicity. All functions of a PAM4 open line system can be housed in a single box: mux/demuxing, amplification, attenuation, and dispersion compensation. Furthermore, zero-touch provisioning will accelerate the turn-up time to under 5 minutes and enable field techs with far less specialized knowledge to deploy the solution safely and efficiently.
Additionally, PAM4 QSFP28s can sit in ports alongside traditional, shorter-reach QSFP28s without a full hardware upgrade. A traditional 100G line card with up-to-date firmware that recognizes ER4 and LR4 should recognize PAM4 optics.
Champion ONE will soon be announcing a range of 100G PAM4 DWDM open line systems. To learn more about how this system can work for you, schedule a complimentary consultation today.
