Green All-Optical Networks: Paving the Path to a Gigabit Experience within an Ecological Transition Framework

In today’s digital era, we are experiencing an extraordinary surge in data traffic that significantly affects both the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector and the environmental landscape. Data’s ever-growing importance in our lives underscores the critical role of ICT in addressing this increasing demand while concurrently striving to lower carbon emissions. The importance of this dual objective for ICT has reached an all-time high.

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector plays a pivotal role in addressing the urgent need to reduce CO2e emissions before 2030. The SMARTer 2030 Report, released by Global Emissions Systems Inc (GeSI), underscores the significance of ICT solutions in key sectors like energy, transport, commerce, and construction. By adopting these solutions, it’s estimated that for each ton of CO2e used to power ICT, users can on average realize almost 10 tons of CO2e savings in 2030.

ICT enhances energy efficiency and promotes sustainability by enabling smart grids and intelligent urban design, significantly reducing CO2e emissions and resource use. The shift to remote work, dematerialization of goods, and IoT leads to reduced transportation emissions and better resource management, effectively handling increased data needs while minimizing environmental impact.

To address the twin challenges of continuously increasing data traffic and reducing carbon emissions, the development and deployment of F5G (Fifth Generation Fixed Networks) gigabit optical networks are crucial. These advanced networks, characterized by their high capacity and energy efficiency, are essential for sustainable development in the digital age.

The transition from first-generation GPON technology to more advanced PON technologies is a significant step in this direction. The first-generation GPON technology, which is gradually replacing traditional copper cable access technology, can provide service bandwidths of up to 100 Mb/s to users. Meanwhile, 10G PON, marking the start of the second generation, has already overtaken GPON and is becoming the dominant PON solution, offering bandwidths up to 1 Gb/s or higher per user. The ITU-T has defined 50G PON as a new PON technology, offering even more flexible bandwidths to meet various service needs​​.

Another key technology in this advancement is the Optical Transport Network (OTN), which efficiently supports various services like SDH, Ethernet, and 5G transport. Widely used in backbone networks, OTN leverages Dense Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (DWDM) for efficient transport capabilities. The extension of OTN to network edges, such as central offices, is vital for providing premium experiences for connected home applications, Industry 4.0, and 5G xhaul. These innovations in OTN technologies enable flexible deployment, high integration, and smooth evolution for future generations of PON technologies, allowing operators to manage challenges in current networks, particularly in the aggregation and access segments​​.

Moreover, the industry is witnessing trends towards 400G/800G technologies, which represent significant advancements in backbone network capabilities. These higher capacity solutions are designed to replace older technologies like 100G in backbone networks, thus enhancing efficiency and reducing the per-bit energy consumption.

In summary, by embracing F5G gigabit optical network development and introducing new F5G Advanced technologies, the ICT sector can innovate to significantly reduce carbon emissions and achieve sustainable development. The replacement of copper with FTTx, modernization to OTN, and the use of new power-efficient solutions are all part of this transformative process. the ICT sector, with its focus on sustainable technologies like fibre deployment, is poised to make a substantial contribution towards meeting the global carbon emission reduction targets set for 2030.