Infinera Line System 2

What is ILS2?

The ILS2 is Infinera's next-generation optical line system. It uses passive Photonic Integrated Circuits to deliver 2x the wavelength density of the competition, greater simplicity and ease-of-use, and a host of new features including ultra-long-haul reach and optical bypass.

What's new in ILS2?

There are four major new features in ILS2:

• Massive additional C-band capacity
• Raman and EDFA amplification options
• Introduction of Optical Express
• Introduction of passive PIC technologies

These are summarized in the following table:

Feature Benefit 160 channels on 25GHz, C-band grid Double the number of channels compared to a 50GHz, C-band system. Extended optical reach Cost-optimized reach options from metro to up to 2500km ULH, including festoon and hut-skipping applications. Optical Express Optimize CapEx where digital bandwidth management is not needed. Passive PIC-based implementation Improved optical performance, reliability, and space efficiency through photonic integration.

Double the channel count. By moving to a 25GHz grid spacing in the C-band, Infinera has doubled the channel count of the line system from 80 channels to 160 channels. Infinera's 25GHz capability is made possible by our second photonic integration platform, the passive PIC.

For Infinera customers the benefit is an double the fiber capacity for any wavelength speed. Today's network economics dictate that 40G interfaces on routers and Layer 3 switches are still significantly more expensive in terms of cost per bit than a 10G interface. With ILS2 Infinera ensures that these customers can operate at the lowest cost per bit while escaping from the problem of individual fiber capacity exhaust.

10G to 40G, and 100G migration. It's essential that the DWDM system you deploy today can offer a smooth migration from 10G to 40G services in the medium term, and from 40G to 100G services in the longer term. ILS2 is also engineered to support 100G services, and so customers can be sure that the line system they invest in today has a clear migration path from 10G, through 40G and onwards to 100G over the lifetime of the system.

Ultra long reach options. In many real-world optical networks there are high loss, long reach spans or multi-span ultra-long haul links that need to be closed without signal regeneration. With ILS2, Infinera is augmenting our existing range of EDFA modules with a new range of co-pumped and counter-pumped, distributed Raman amplifiers. This combination of EDFA and Raman amplifiers enables ultra-long reach of up to 2,500 km without regeneration and also supports high-loss, single span links (festoon links) up to 52 dB.

Optical Express. With ILS2, Infinera introduces optical bypass to the Digital Optical Network toolkit. This allows network operators to express a fraction of their traffic through locations with limited add/drop needs. Combining optical express with Infinera's digital add/drop and GMPLS automation means simplicity, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness across a wide range of add/drop requirements.