ADVA, a renowned German telecommunications company that provides network equipment for storage, data, voice and video services, reportedly announced that it is leading the OptiCON project. The company aims to boost the capacity of optical metro as well as core networks through this project. This network project is funded by Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) of Germany. OptiCON is exploring technologies that would allow fiber infrastructure to carry a throughput that is ten times more than what it carries today. With exponentially increasing internet traffic, this new project would play a very important role in the mobile application expansion, at, as well as beyond 5G. OptiCON would be an integral part of the digital transformation happening across all areas of life. The project aims to leverage new fiber types, unused optical spectrum, advanced monitoring as well as SDN control and novel transmission schemes. Principal engineer, advanced technology, ADVA and OptiCON project lead, Annika Dochhan stated that this project is very important. With optical transmission reaching the Shannon Limit and continual rise in per-channel speeds gradually coming to an end, companies are looking at disruptive ways to extend network capacity in future. By utilizing the untapped spectrum, the company can increase the value of DWDM (dense wavelength division multiplexing) networks. It could also help tackle the soaring data requirements from the cloud, mobile and video. Dochhan further added that the OptiCON project is about innovating the next generation of transport networks and supporting operators to keep up with the exponentially rising traffic they are currently facing. This project builds on everything the company has achieved with its FSP 3000 OLS (open line system) as well as its TeraFlex™ terminal technology, that ensures cost that is lowest per bit for every network. Now with the OptiCON project, the company is taking fiber transmission to another level. The ADVA led project would be in operation for the next three years. the project would involve highstreet technologies, the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI, VPIphotonics and the Technical University of Munich. Source credit: https://www.adva.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/20191205-adva-leads-project-to-boost-optical-network-capacity