Using Cisco’s NCS 1014 3.2Tbps WDM line card paired with Acacia’s QSFP-DD Ultra Long Haul coherent pluggable optic modules, the trial has opened a pathway to exponentially greater network efficiency across some of the world’s most challenging transmission distances.
The implications extend well beyond Australia’s shores. As global data consumption continues its relentless climb—driven by artificial intelligence, streaming services, cloud computing, and an increasingly connected world—the ability to maximize existing subsea infrastructure becomes critical.
Traditional approaches to increasing capacity have typically required laying new cables, a process that costs billions and takes years to complete. The trial suggests a more immediate and cost-effective alternative.
In its announcement AARNet said the solution boosts capacity to 6.4Tbps per rack unit by optimising space and power use at subsea endpoints, improving efficiency without sacrificing performance.
“During the trial, the 400Gbps wavelength operated at 75GBaud, showcasing the ability to transmit extremely high-speed data efficiently over existing optical infrastructure.
“This approach enables better use of the available space and power at the end points of the subsea link without compromising overall capacity of the submarine cable.”
For Australia specifically, this development addresses a unique geographic challenge. As an island continent with major population centers separated by vast distances, efficient long-haul communication has always been economically and technically demanding.
The success of the 4,600-kilometer transmission demonstrates that advanced coherent optics can bridge these distances while maintaining the ultra-high speeds that modern applications demand.
Perhaps most significantly, this trial was conducted by AARNet—jointly owned by Australian universities and CSIRO—highlighting how academic and research institutions continue to drive telecommunications innovation.
While commercial networks often focus on immediately profitable applications, research networks like AARNet can afford to push boundaries and explore technologies that may not see widespread commercial adoption for years.
According to AARNet, the successful operation of the new wavelength in parallel with live traffic on the Indigo Central cable, confirmed the technology is ready for immediate live network deployment and can seamlessly integrate with existing services.
AARNet. CEO Chris Hancock said, “This successful trial with Cisco is a fantastic achievement and underscores AARNet’s commitment to providing Australia’s research and education sector with leading-edge network capabilities,”
“We are proud to partner with Cisco in pushing the boundaries of optical networking, and the results of this trial give us a lot of confidence in the future deployment of this technology across the AARNet network.” he said.
In February 2024, a real-time 800Gbps field trial was conducted using Cisco’s NCS 1014 platform on the 6,234 km Amitié transatlantic submarine cable, connecting Boston to Bordeaux.
The trial achieved a spectral efficiency of 5.33 b/s/Hz with 150GHz channel spacing and successfully demonstrated 600Gbps transmission over a 12,469 km transatlantic loopback route.
Back in 2018, Acacia (now Cisco) set a benchmark with 6.41 b/s/Hz spectral efficiency on the 6,644 km Marea cable, using its proprietary Fractional QAM modulation and 400G coherent optical technology.
