Ethernet is becoming the preferred solution to enable multiple new services in data transmission, and 100GbE is the next rate for IP transport. 

Drivers and inhibitors for 100GbE services

Looking ahead, it is doubtful whether current transport infrastructures will be able to handle the anticipated flood of IP-based or packet-based traffic. Given the increasing dominance of Ethernet services, 100GbE Ethernet represents the next logical step in catering for evolving data rates. Transport connectivity today is provided mainly by 10GbE Ethernet interfaces in carrier networks. And although it is possible to expand current networks by adding parallel 10GbE connections, this approach is inefficient at the packet level because the routers must constantly rebalance packets of different lengths onto different interfaces. The introduction of 100GbE interfaces and 100Gbps transport will ease these problems.

100Gbps transport technology can increase the capacity of optical fiber, giving operators an alternative to deploying new fiber with minimal impact on other network aspects. The use of 100Gbps also reduces the number of interface types, network latency and the number of managed wavelengths. In addition, it has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by decreasing the number of interfaces.