ADVA Works on Commercializing Next Generation of FTTH

NORCROSS, GA and MARTINSRIED/MUNICH, GERMANY - The battle for the next generation of fiber to the home is being fought out among different access technologies. While Verizon is getting attention for testing symmetrical 10GPON (also known as XGPON), ADVA Optical Networking is participating in a research project to develop Wavelength Division Multiplexing Passive Optical Networking (WDM-PON) technology. The project, called "ADVAntage-PON", will run for three years and is supported by Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Though it launched a commercial solution in 2008, ADVA continues to investigate WDM-PON technology, trying to deliver 1 Gbps to more than 1,000 users over more than 100 kilometers. Deutsche Telekom will participate in field trials in Berlin with about 20 customers, and the resulting technology will be incorporated into ADVA's FSP 3000 and FSP 150 products.

"WDM technology has been successfully deployed in long-haul, metro core and backhaul networks for many years, delivering unprecedented capacity and reach. Now the technology is also starting to show its value in the access network," explains Christoph Glingener, CTO of ADVA Optical Networking. "With our participation in this project, we expect to help define an optimal network architecture that is focused on the user and the growing demand for bandwidth. At the same time, future access technology must recognize the service provider's need for energy-efficient, secure and cost-effective service provisioning. This project will drive forward all those elements."

In addition to cost-effective access technology development, the project will also focus on network security, energy efficiency, network monitoring and network management. Seven other organizations will participate in the project with ADVA Optical Networking, including ADC Krone; AIFOTEC GmbH; ELBAU GmbH; ELCON Systemtechnik; Fraunhofer-Institut HHI; University of Kiel; and VERTILAS GmbH.