Lucent Technologies Inc – the soon-to-be-spun-off equipment arm of AT&T Corp – has announced the Broadband Transport Network – a new combination of technologies said to eliminate the need for numerous optical fibers and regenerators, or single-channel optical fiber amplifiers, in next-generation high-capacity networks. The Broadband Transport Network was developed at Bell Laboratories, and incorporates three elements: TrueWave Single- Mode Optical Fiber; Optical Line System terminal equipment and optical amplifiers; and Synchronous Optical Network and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy transport terminals. The TrueWave fiber is said to be the first to be specifically designed to carry optical signals at multiple wavelengths using optical amplification – enabling it, says Lucent, to carry many more wavelengths simultaneously than with conventional dispersion- shifted fiber. As well as greater capacity, the technique is also said to enable the signals to travel greater distances before regeneration is required. Lucent is making bold claims for the benefits of TrueWave, saying that network capacity can be increased to 20Gbps from 2.5Gbps. The Optical Line System terminal equipment is said to enable up to eight wavelengths to be multiplexed onto a single TrueWave fiber. When these are then amplified, says Lucent, the number of optical amplifiers or regenerators can be decreased by a factor of eight at each regenerator site. The Broadband Transport Network will be pitched at long-distance telecommunications providers, but Lucent says also that local providers are potential customers in situations where portions of their networks require repeatered systems, or where the use of multiple wavelengths can offer customer advantages. The TrueWave optical fiber is available now, and the complete Broadband Transport Network system will ship next quarter.
