wiredInUSA - February 2014
26
BT and Alcatel-Lucent have demonstrated
data transmission speeds of 1.4Tbps over a
fiber optic link, claiming it to be the fastest
ever achieved in commercial grade
hardware in a real world environment.
The trial was conducted during October
and November 2013, over an existing
410km fiber optic link between two BT sites –
the BT Tower in London and its Adastral Park
research campus in Ipswich – using Alcatel
equipment.
BT and Alcatel-Lucent said that the speed
of 1.4Tbps was made possible by combining
seven 200Gbps channels bundled together
to transmit data along the fiber. This was
accomplished by reducing the spacing
between channels on the fiber from 50GHz
to 35GHz delivering, what the companies
described as “record breaking spectral
efficiency” of 5.7 bits per second per hertz.
Thesuccessful trial,performedusingsoftware
reconfigurable production equipment,
could point the way for high-speed wide
area networks (WANs), using existing
Alcatel-Lucent equipment to create what
has been called a ‘flexible grid’ (Flexgrid)
infrastructure.
Record transmission over
fiber
InvestBulgaria Agency revealed that
Nexans autoelectric is to establish
an assembly facility in Pleven, where
Elektrokabel Bulgaria, a supplier for
Nexans autoelectric group, will produce
cable harnesses for European automobile
manufacturers.
A modern assembly facility of 5,000m
2
will be completed within the year, and
manufacturing will begin at the end
of 2014. At full capacity, the plant will
accommodate around 600 employees in
production,administration, logistics,quality
assurance and process engineering.
Nexans autoelectric, based in southern
Germany, selected Pleven after an
extensive analysis of the location factors.
The good infrastructure, the excellent
labor market and theaccession of Bulgaria
to the European Union were specifically
decisive.
Nexans autoelectric develops and
produces
cabling
systems
and
electro-mechanical components for
conventionally powered vehicles as well
as for E and hybrid vehicles.
Harnessing new jobs