Nokia launches next-gen coherent optics to reduce network power consumption by 60%

• Nokia’s sixth generation super-coherent photonic service engine (PSE-6s) sets new milestones in scale, performance and sustainability for optical transport networks
• Unmatched 2.4Tb/s scale to efficiently support unrelenting traffic growth
• A new benchmark in performance enabling three times the reach for 800 Gigabit per second (Gb/s) wavelengths
• Sustainable network evolution with 60 percent less network power consumption per bit

Espoo, Finland – Nokia today announced the launch of its sixth-generation super-coherent photonic service engine, the PSE-6s, which is capable of reducing network power consumption by 60 percent. In addition to improving energy efficiency, network operators need to add massive capacity in response to ever-increasing demand. As the powerhouse behind the evolution of Nokia’s optical transport portfolio, the PSE-6s supports the efficient delivery of high-speed services including 800 Gigabit Ethernet (GE), over distances of 2,000km and beyond. PSE-6s will be presented for the first time at MWC 2023 in Barcelona and again at OFC in San Diego, next month.

According to research firm Cignal.ai, network capacity deployed over coherent optics is expected to grow at a rate of over 40 percent per year over the next four years, driven by more network connections, faster bandwidth speeds and new applications.     

Nokia PSE-6s optical engines support a unique chip-to-chip interface that enables them to be deployed in pairs to power the industry’s first 2.4Tb/s coherent transport solution. This allows network operators to efficiently transport any combination of high-speed client services including 400 and 800GE. With a three-fold increase in performance, PSE-6s-enabled platforms support transport of 800GE services in metro and datacenter interconnect (DCI) applications, and with reach of 2,000km and beyond, across long-haul networks and trans-oceanic cables.

Kyle Hollasch, Lead Analyst - Optical and Packet Transport at Cignal AI, said: “Coherent interfaces are close to reaching the theoretical maximum capacity of fiber. But successive generations continue to provide tremendous value by transporting more data per wavelength, improving energy efficiency, and supporting the latest Ethernet rates. The PSE-6s brings these advances to Nokia’s broad portfolio of optical networking platforms with support for terabit wavelengths, multi-terabit line cards, and 800GE rates over distance – all while reducing power per bit.”

PSE-6s tightly integrates the latest generation of 5nm coherent digital signal processors (DSPs) with Nokia’s CSTAR silicon photonics. Operating at 130 Gbaud, the PSE-6s powers the next generation of coherent transport at up to 1.2Tb/s of capacity per wavelength. PSE-6s offers a simple upgrade path for network operators, allowing them to upgrade their networks to PSE-6s across the 1830 family of optical networking platforms, including the 1830 PSS, 1830 PSI-M and 1830 PSS-x, leveraging existing ITU-T WDM channel plans.

James Watt, Vice President Nokia Optical Networks, said: “Additional capacity often means additional complexity for operators. But PSE-6s is designed to make scale simple. PSE-6s is available as an upgrade across our portfolio. Powerful enough to redefine the frontier of coherent transport, it’s nevertheless simple to deploy, so network operators can take immediate advantage of its scale and performance capabilities. What’s more, these benefits come with lower power consumption per bit, resulting in a better TCO, as well as helping operators meet increasingly aggressive carbon reduction targets.”

Gilles Bourdon, Vice President Wireline Networks at Orange Group, said: “The 6th generation of coherent optical engines supporting 130Gbaud operation and up to 1.2Tb/s per wavelength gives us confidence to increase the capacity of Orange backbone networks in the future, running at 800Gb/s per wavelength in long distance links and providing a very efficient and reliable transport solution to interconnect our routers with 800GE ports.”

Cicero Olivieri, Vice President Engineering & CTO at V.tal, said: “As a digital infrastructure company and holder of the largest neutral fiber optic network in Brazil, providing connectivity and digital solutions to telecom operators, ISPs and OTTs over our unique nationwide backbone network with more than 400,000 km of fibre, a key priority for V.tal is to scale our infrastructure and support new high-speed services such as 400GE/800GE to accommodate the growing demand. We are excited with the potential of Nokia’s PSE-6s to provide efficient means to scale bandwidth, while also lowering power consumption, which is essential to meet our ESG commitments.”

Marwan Bin Shakar, Senior Vice President, Access Network Development, Etisalat by e& UAE said: “We are big believers in technological solutions that digitally empower societies while realising our sustainability ambitions and supporting other companies to do the same. We are continuously working closely with our partners and stakeholders to create solutions that turn ideas into action. With its reduced power consumption per bit, PSE-6s will be instrumental to achieving our sustainability goals, supporting the UAE’s Net-Zero by 2050 ambitions.”

Optical networking equipment containing the new PSE-6s is expected to be available for customer network trials in the second half of 2023.