[December 23, 2009] Verizon Conducts 10 Gigabit-Per-Second Fiber-to-the-Premises Field Test Tweet Dec 23, 2009 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- Verizon announced it is the first telecommunications company in the world to field-test a passive optical network system known as XG-PON that can transmit data at 10 gigabits per second downstream and 2.4 Gbps upstream. According to Verizon, the test, conducted in southern Massachusetts, allows the company to meet the customer demand for a variety of devices and applications that require a network capable of transmitting large amounts of data. The devices and applications could include unicast HD video streaming, ultra-high-definition video, 3D video, user-generated content distribution, video conferencing, and high-speed data services for medium- and large-business customers. According to Verizon, the XG-PON signal was tested independently on a dedicated passive optical network (PON) as well as overlaid on a fiber providing FiOS service to a customer. The overlay test verified there was no interference between the XG-PON signal and the regular FiOS signal using gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technology and running at 2.5 Gbps downstream and 1.24 Gbps upstream. Previously, Verizon tested the XG-PON signal in the company's Waltham laboratory. "From the earliest stages of the FiOS design, we knew we could repeatedly and progressively leverage the immense capacity of fiber to carry more and more data in support of customer applications," said Mark Wegleitner, senior VP of technology for Verizon. "Now we're already working on the best way to take the next leap forward in capacity." Wegleitner noted that in 2004 Verizon launched FiOS service using the broadband passive optical network (BPON) technology, which provided downstream speeds of 622 Mbps per second. Less than three years later, the company introduced the gigabit passive optical network, or GPON technology, at speeds that are four times faster than the broadband passive optical network's downstream rate and eight times faster than its upstream rate. The XG-PON trial, according to Dr. Vincent O'Byrne, director of technology for Verizon, consisted of a new optical line terminal (OLT) installed in the Verizon central office, generating a 10 Gbps XG-PON signal transmitted over a wavelength, or color of light. Two tests were conducted: One test transmitted the XG-PON signal by itself on a separate PON fiber between the central office and a new optical network terminal (ONT) device at a customer's home. In the other test, the XG-PON stream was merged as a separate wavelength onto an already-operating live fiber running FiOS with GPON at 2.5 Gbps to provide a total downstream flow of 12.5 Gbps. At the customer's house, the XG-PON and GPON signals were received by ONT devices, showing that the network can simultaneously deliver the GPON and XG-PON signals on the same fiber at the two speeds, without any degradation in service. A "test cart" prepared by technical staff from Verizon's FTTP Architecture and Design Group in Waltham was installed at the FiOS customer's house, and was used to exercise the XG-PON information channel. It transmitted and received data service at the XG-PON rate. On the test cart, the signal was demodulated and the performance of the new technology was measured. Verizon Communications is a developer of broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]