Terabit or 400G Ethernet?
With the 100G Ethernet commercially available, now people are aiming at the next generation Ethernet technology. In OFC/NFOEC 2008, people considered one terabit Ethernet. After that, some initial investigations were booming in academy. For example, some researchers are using optical coherent-OFDM technology to carry one terabit per second data rate over a single channel over 600 km over SSMF fibers. In this year’s OFC/NFOEC, there is a special panel session on terabit technology. However, recently some voice is up asking if Terabit is practical and can be supported by today’s or next following years’ technology. People think 400Gb/s technology can be more practical based on today’s technology. For example, by combining 25 Gb/s substreams, it is possible to generate a 400Gb/s single channel. We are not sure whether we will leap forward by factors of 10 or 4. Let us wait and see. But the final destination that we can believe in is Shannon’s capacity limit. Yah, that is the truth! For the details on the above debate, please read an article in lightreading.com.
