Ciena Corp. on Monday announced the general availability of its new FlexSelect 40G Shelf, which is designed to transition metro, regional, long-haul and ultra long-haul networks to 40gbps while providing a migration path to 100gbps, in support of bandwidth demands from growth in residential triple-play, streaming IP, business services and other applications.

     The shelf is compatible with Ciena’s CN 4200 FlexSelect Advanced Services Platforms and CoreStream Agility Optical Transport Systems, and enables in-service upgrades of single 40gbps wavelengths alongside existing 10gbps wavelengths.

     “A lot of our customers that already have metro or long haul networks deployed are running out of capacity. What they can do rather than having to overbuild their network – add another fiber to their network or overbuild with new equipment – they can just add 40gig wavelengths to their network,” said Vinay Rathore, Ciena’s director of marketing.

     “The main benefit is that you can add 40gig wavelengths of service to existing 10gig networks that are already deployed,” he said, noting that Ciena uses differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) modulation and dispersion compensation techniques to make 40gbps look like 10gbps, eliminating incompatibility with non-40gbps fiber plant. “We can then mix and match 10gig and 40gig wavelengths on a single fiber.”

     The ability to mix and match the different wavelengths on the same fiber is a function of the CoreStream and 4200 Ciena filters. “That’s a secret sauce that already exists in the products themselves,” said Rathore.

     “And, when you are ready to go to a 100gig, you will be able to do the exact same thing. You’ll be able to add 100gig wavelengths onto those same fibers as well.”

     Ciena began 40gbps research and development in 2000 and all of Ciena’s optical transport systems, including the CoreStream Agility and the CN 4200, were made 40gbps-ready by 2005.