AARNet delivers record-breaking distance for 400Gbps on Indigo subsea cable with Cisco

Sydney, Australia, 26 March 2024 — AARNet (Australia’s Academic and Research Network) today announced the successful execution of the longest distance 400 Gigabits per second (Gbps) transmission trial ever reported, in collaboration with Cisco, on the Indigo subsea cable system. The distance extended 18,400 kilometres from Sydney to Singapore via Perth looped.

The trial demonstrated the scalability of the AARNet network to support exponential growth in cloud and AI services traffic for research and education.

Tests were performed with the Cisco NCS 1014 with the 2.4 Terabit per second (Tbps) WDM line card enabled by Acacia’s Coherent Interconnect Module 8 (CIM 8), and the NCS 2000 Flex Spectrum Single Module ROADM platforms. The products are available today and actively deployed in multiple networks worldwide.

The key wavelength transmissions achieved on the Indigo subsea cable were:

• Record breaking 400Gbps distance of 18,400Km: 4,600km on Indigo Central (Sydney to Perth) plus 4,600km on Indigo West (Perth to Singapore) looped
• 800Gbps over 4,600Km on Indigo Central
• 600Gbps over 9,200Km on Indigo Central looped

AARNet also validated this solution over its long-haul terrestrial network (a mix of overhead and buried optical fibre), achieving data rates between 600Gbps and 1.1Tbps demonstrating the flexibility and multi-haul capabilities of the Cisco solution.

“The results of this trial with Cisco are exciting. We have demonstrated that the AARNet network can provide our customers with unparalleled scalability to support the future data transfer demands of cross-institutional data-intensive research projects and emerging technologies,” said Chris Hancock CEO at AARNet.

“The network must be able to deliver the capacity and speeds necessary to keep up with the pace of innovation and the delivery of next generation technology services,” said Bill Gartner, SVP/GM, Optical Systems and Optics, Cisco. “The Cisco NCS 1014 and NCS 2000 platforms enable unprecedented speed and distance over both subsea and terrestrial applications, providing optical transport innovation that paves the way for future network growth.”

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For more information about Cisco Optical Networking visit www.cisco.com/go/optical

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About AARNet

Australia’s Academic and Research Network (AARNet) provides high capacity national and international telecommunications infrastructure, cyber security and collaboration services for the nation’s research and education sector, including universities, health and other research organisations, schools, vocational training providers and cultural institutions. AARNet serves over two million end users who access the network for teaching, learning and research.

For more information, visit www.aarnet.edu.au

Media contact: Jane Gifford, +61 (0) 458700213, media@aarnet.edu.au