Ekinops Enables Orange to Set Record in Optical Transmission

For the first time, tens of terabits per second (Tbps) were transported over 762 km (472 miles) on the Orange network, setting a transmission record. The transmission, along the Lyon-Marseille-Lyon link, was made possible by Ekinops’ ultra-high capacity optical transmission technology.

This full-scale multi-terabit transmission, which took place on the Orange optical fiber infrastructure of its operational network during a trial that lasted several weeks, is a world record, not only in terms of global data capacity transported (38.4 Tbps), but also in the transmission distance (762 km / 472 miles).

For Orange, the objective was to demonstrate that the fiber infrastructure of its operational network is able to carry data rates of tens of Tbps over distances of several hundred kilometers.

To establish this transmission record, Orange relied on equipment from Ekinops and Keopsys SA, which provided new generation hybrid Raman / Erbium optical amplifiers along the Lyon-Marseille-Lyon link. These new generation amplifiers were based on joint research and development between Ekinops and Keopsys, a specialist in optical fiber amplifiers and lasers. Their combined expertise makes possible this low cost, highly energy efficient and innovative technology for the modernization of traditional optical fiber networks.

"Ekinops is particularly proud of this technological achievement, which is the result of close collaboration with Orange,” said Jean-Luc Pamart, Vice President Engineering at Ekinops. "Innovation is in the DNA of Ekinops and this collaboration illustrates our ability to deliver innovative and efficient equipment to upgrade the capacity of existing fiber networks. It also demonstrates how Ekinops can respond in a relevant way to the technological needs of major operators.”

For its part, "Keopsys demonstrates its technological capacity through the development and implementation of next generation fibered products that can be easily integrated into broadband communication platforms,” said Marc Le Flohic, CEO of Keopsys. "The hybrid fiber amplifiers efficiently increase bandwidth of new optical transmission networks.”

This field trial was carried out in the framework of the European CELTIC-Plus project SASER (Safe and Secure European Routing).

About Ekinops

Ekinops is a leading supplier of next generation optical transport equipment for telecommunications service providers. The Ekinops 360 addresses Metro, Regional, and Long-Haul applications with a single, highly-integrated platform. Ekinops is a market-leading innovator in 100G transport with a coherent line of products that truly optimizes optical networks and comes in 1RU, 2RU or 7RU chassis. The Ekinops 360 relies on the highly-programmable Ekinops T-Chip^® (Transport-on-a-Chip) architecture that enables fast, flexible and cost-effective delivery of new services for high-speed, high-capacity transport. Using the Ekinops 360 carrier-grade system, operators can simply increase capacity of their networks – CWDM, DWDM, Ethernet, ESCON, Fibre Channel, SONET/SDH, and uncompressed video (HD-SDI, SD-SDI, ASI). Ekinops is headquartered in Lannion, France, and Ekinops Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary, is incorporated in the USA. Mnemonic code: EKI. For more information, visit www.ekinops.net.

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