Backbone network 400G is imperative, industry linkage solves commercial problems
2022-8-22
With the advent of the 5G and cloud era, ultra-broadband has gradually become the cornerstone of the Internet of Everything in the intelligent era. As the next-generation mainstream high-speed Ethernet interface of ultra-broadband, 400G has gradually become the basic capability of IP network infrastructure and has begun its vigorous development. . At the "400G Scale Commercial Path Analysis" roundtable forum held at the same time as the China Optical Expo 2021, Dr. Li Junjie, chief expert of optical transmission of China Telecom, Dr. Wang Dong, project manager and senior engineer of the Institute of Basic Network Technology of China Mobile Research Institute, and Huawei Optical Bai Zhongqiang, vice president of the transmission field, discussed the issue of large-scale commercial use of 400G.
400G continues to burst in value and has great prospects in the future
With the strong drive of future broadband transmission needs such as cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and the new Internet, 400G has gradually moved from behind-the-scenes technology research to the commercial foreground. Especially in the past two years, it has developed more rapidly in China. However, at present, 100G is still in its infancy, 800G is just around the corner, and the volume of 400G in the middle is getting smaller.
Li Junjie believes that 400G is not a short-lived technology, it will be the most important technology hub in the next decade. 400G technology is now mature and can achieve full coverage. Although 800G technology is very hot recently, based on the current technology level, 800G is difficult to achieve full coverage. It may be a technology of metropolitan area network or access network.
Wang Dong said that from 2013 to the present, 100G has experienced a life cycle of nearly ten years, and has achieved great success in commercial deployment. Although 800G is now a hot spot in the industry, from the perspective of industrial structure, whether it is optical devices or optical transmission capabilities, there is still a long way to go before commercialization and long-distance applications. 400G is the basic consensus of operators, and it will become a very important technology for the next generation.
As a representative of equipment manufacturers, Bai Zhongqiang believes that in general, the key 400G technology is breaking through, and it is expected to reach the level of trial commercial use in about 1-2 years. There are still many key technologies in 800G that have not been broken through, including the core devices in the laboratory are still under study.
In 2010, the IEEE officially approved the IEEE 802.3ba standard, and the operator's IP backbone network entered the era of 100G platform. 100G routers are widely deployed in operators' backbone networks and metropolitan area networks. This year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed to promote the deployment of 200G/400G transmission in the backbone network on demand. It is also the ultimate fate of 400G to enter the backbone network from the metropolitan area network, but the road ahead for 400G is slightly bumpy at present.
In this regard, Li Junjie answered: If a technology is to be mature and commercialized, it is faced with the issue of cost-effectiveness, and it can only be operated if the cost-effectiveness is sufficient. Therefore, in terms of performance and price, at this stage, it is still relatively difficult to implement 400G on the backbone network. He added that, from the current point of view, the single-wavelength 400G transmission technology has certain shortcomings in the backbone network in terms of performance. The other is cost. Cost is an unavoidable problem. 400G has not yet been launched on a large scale. The main problem is the high cost. If the cost of 400G is higher than four 100G, the operator's deployment motivation is insufficient.
Wang Dong said that the channel spacing based on 75GHz can basically meet the needs of metropolitan area networks, but there is still a big gap for the demand for backbone networks of more than 1,000 kilometers or more than 1,500 kilometers. Only by further increasing the transmission distance, can operators better promote 400G from the metro to the backbone network and meet business needs faster.
Upstream and downstream linkage accelerates the maturity of the 400G industry chain
In Li Junjie's view, the 400G industry chain has basically matured, and it has been almost ten years since the 400G standard was established. The application of 400G in data centers has been three to four years, and the industry chain is relatively mature. Among them, the biggest shortcoming is the control of high-end technology. According to him, many high-precision components are currently in the hands of foreign companies, such as adjustable lasers, analog and digital circuits, etc. are still controlled by others. It is hoped that there will be Chinese manufacturers in this field, so that a mature and healthy industrial chain can be formed.
Li Junjie emphasized that, first of all, it is very important to join hands in the industrial chain. Secondly, the issue of the diversity of technical routes and the issue of non-focused technology should also be paid attention to, and more importantly, the standardization aspect, the entire industry chain needs to be interoperable as soon as possible. "As an operator, China Telecom hopes that standard technologies can be interconnected. China Telecom will work with suppliers to accelerate the standard focus of 400G technology and accelerate its maturity as soon as possible, and turn 400G technology into productivity as soon as possible."
Regarding the current 400G industry chain, Wang Dong believes that for the metropolitan area network, 400G has built a very complete industry chain and is also ready for deployment. Facing the backbone network, the equipment and equipment technical solutions of various mainstream equipment manufacturers already have the ability to transmit for 1,000 kilometers. Wang Dong pointed out that operators especially hope that the industry chain can reach a unified solution, and make joint efforts to promote the technology to be more mature, and the performance and price of the products are more convenient for operators to use and deploy. He hopes to use the domestic CCSA platform and the industry to work together to promote the development of 400G technology. "Whether it is an optical device manufacturer, an optical module manufacturer or an amplifier manufacturer, it is necessary to have a clear indicator definition and a research and development path, which will reduce the cost of research and development investment, and finally can focus more on the technical route and quickly meet the operator's application. needs."
Bai Zhongqiang said that in the field of metropolitan area network, foreign industrial chains are gradually becoming mature. In contrast, domestic enterprises are still controlled by others, and he hopes that the domestic industrial chain can follow up as soon as possible; in the field of backbone networks, there are still key breakthroughs in China. technologies, including electrical layers, optical layers, and systems.
At the end of the round table, the three experts all talked about the prospect of 400G technology. Li Junjie said that for 400G, not only hope that high-precision components can be more localized, but also hope that the industry can seize the time to reserve the next-generation technology. Wang Dong called on industries, universities and research institutes to work together to promote the exploration of 400G application basic research, to promote my country's research in optical devices, optical modules or some relatively more cutting-edge technologies, and to achieve the overall promotion results of the entire industry. Bai Zhongqiang hopes that my country's upstream and downstream industrial chains will increase investment and strive to become a global leader in the future.
400G continues to burst in value and has great prospects in the future
With the strong drive of future broadband transmission needs such as cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and the new Internet, 400G has gradually moved from behind-the-scenes technology research to the commercial foreground. Especially in the past two years, it has developed more rapidly in China. However, at present, 100G is still in its infancy, 800G is just around the corner, and the volume of 400G in the middle is getting smaller.
Li Junjie believes that 400G is not a short-lived technology, it will be the most important technology hub in the next decade. 400G technology is now mature and can achieve full coverage. Although 800G technology is very hot recently, based on the current technology level, 800G is difficult to achieve full coverage. It may be a technology of metropolitan area network or access network.
Wang Dong said that from 2013 to the present, 100G has experienced a life cycle of nearly ten years, and has achieved great success in commercial deployment. Although 800G is now a hot spot in the industry, from the perspective of industrial structure, whether it is optical devices or optical transmission capabilities, there is still a long way to go before commercialization and long-distance applications. 400G is the basic consensus of operators, and it will become a very important technology for the next generation.
As a representative of equipment manufacturers, Bai Zhongqiang believes that in general, the key 400G technology is breaking through, and it is expected to reach the level of trial commercial use in about 1-2 years. There are still many key technologies in 800G that have not been broken through, including the core devices in the laboratory are still under study.
In 2010, the IEEE officially approved the IEEE 802.3ba standard, and the operator's IP backbone network entered the era of 100G platform. 100G routers are widely deployed in operators' backbone networks and metropolitan area networks. This year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed to promote the deployment of 200G/400G transmission in the backbone network on demand. It is also the ultimate fate of 400G to enter the backbone network from the metropolitan area network, but the road ahead for 400G is slightly bumpy at present.
In this regard, Li Junjie answered: If a technology is to be mature and commercialized, it is faced with the issue of cost-effectiveness, and it can only be operated if the cost-effectiveness is sufficient. Therefore, in terms of performance and price, at this stage, it is still relatively difficult to implement 400G on the backbone network. He added that, from the current point of view, the single-wavelength 400G transmission technology has certain shortcomings in the backbone network in terms of performance. The other is cost. Cost is an unavoidable problem. 400G has not yet been launched on a large scale. The main problem is the high cost. If the cost of 400G is higher than four 100G, the operator's deployment motivation is insufficient.
Wang Dong said that the channel spacing based on 75GHz can basically meet the needs of metropolitan area networks, but there is still a big gap for the demand for backbone networks of more than 1,000 kilometers or more than 1,500 kilometers. Only by further increasing the transmission distance, can operators better promote 400G from the metro to the backbone network and meet business needs faster.
Upstream and downstream linkage accelerates the maturity of the 400G industry chain
In Li Junjie's view, the 400G industry chain has basically matured, and it has been almost ten years since the 400G standard was established. The application of 400G in data centers has been three to four years, and the industry chain is relatively mature. Among them, the biggest shortcoming is the control of high-end technology. According to him, many high-precision components are currently in the hands of foreign companies, such as adjustable lasers, analog and digital circuits, etc. are still controlled by others. It is hoped that there will be Chinese manufacturers in this field, so that a mature and healthy industrial chain can be formed.
Li Junjie emphasized that, first of all, it is very important to join hands in the industrial chain. Secondly, the issue of the diversity of technical routes and the issue of non-focused technology should also be paid attention to, and more importantly, the standardization aspect, the entire industry chain needs to be interoperable as soon as possible. "As an operator, China Telecom hopes that standard technologies can be interconnected. China Telecom will work with suppliers to accelerate the standard focus of 400G technology and accelerate its maturity as soon as possible, and turn 400G technology into productivity as soon as possible."
Regarding the current 400G industry chain, Wang Dong believes that for the metropolitan area network, 400G has built a very complete industry chain and is also ready for deployment. Facing the backbone network, the equipment and equipment technical solutions of various mainstream equipment manufacturers already have the ability to transmit for 1,000 kilometers. Wang Dong pointed out that operators especially hope that the industry chain can reach a unified solution, and make joint efforts to promote the technology to be more mature, and the performance and price of the products are more convenient for operators to use and deploy. He hopes to use the domestic CCSA platform and the industry to work together to promote the development of 400G technology. "Whether it is an optical device manufacturer, an optical module manufacturer or an amplifier manufacturer, it is necessary to have a clear indicator definition and a research and development path, which will reduce the cost of research and development investment, and finally can focus more on the technical route and quickly meet the operator's application. needs."
Bai Zhongqiang said that in the field of metropolitan area network, foreign industrial chains are gradually becoming mature. In contrast, domestic enterprises are still controlled by others, and he hopes that the domestic industrial chain can follow up as soon as possible; in the field of backbone networks, there are still key breakthroughs in China. technologies, including electrical layers, optical layers, and systems.
At the end of the round table, the three experts all talked about the prospect of 400G technology. Li Junjie said that for 400G, not only hope that high-precision components can be more localized, but also hope that the industry can seize the time to reserve the next-generation technology. Wang Dong called on industries, universities and research institutes to work together to promote the exploration of 400G application basic research, to promote my country's research in optical devices, optical modules or some relatively more cutting-edge technologies, and to achieve the overall promotion results of the entire industry. Bai Zhongqiang hopes that my country's upstream and downstream industrial chains will increase investment and strive to become a global leader in the future.
