From the user's perspective: the battle between Ethernet color light and PON

The park is the "central battlefield" for the digital transformation of enterprises.

Cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and other digital technologies are "fighting" in the park; a large number of innovative applications such as high-definition video, collaborative office, and smart security generate massive amounts of data that "runs freely" in the park; coupled with a large number of IOT and intelligent devices pouring into the "battlefield", the park network is facing an irresistible data flood. The park network has reached a crossroads of change.

Therefore, the "storyline" of the all-optical park is also introduced. By "optical in and copper out", the all-optical network becomes the "foundation" to support the digital transformation of the park and enterprises within the park. PON technology has naturally become the earliest "role" to appear in the park's optical network solution.

However, the most exciting stories always have the protagonist appearing after a rich plot. In the all-optical campus solution, the emergence of passive Ethernet all-optical, as the "protagonist", is gradually taking away the optimistic people of PON technology and moving to the center of the stage...

Campus network transformation: Ethernet color light technology takes the main stage

Campus networks are facing a major change that has not been seen in a decade. Although the all-optical development path of campus networks is an irreversible trend, there is more than one all-optical route available to campus network users.

With the advantage of "medium", the PON solution meets a series of basic requirements of the campus network for bandwidth, latency, reliability, energy saving and environmental protection. Although there are problems such as splitter limitations, bandwidth sharing, and high requirements for operation and maintenance skills, as an all-optical solution, the PON solution has played a driving role in the evolution of the "optical fiber in and copper out" route. However, with the evolution of technology, some new technical routes have emerged, which have developed the advantages of the PON solution while making up for many of the shortcomings of the PON solution, and have gradually entered the field of vision of users.

In 2021, the "Ethernet Optical" solution, also an all-optical route, was proposed by Ruijie and first implemented in the industry, which is the well-known minimalist Ethernet all-optical solution. The solution at that time was "amazing" because it maintained the Ethernet architecture and could better adapt to SDN and Wi-Fi 6. At the same time, it also had the simplicity and smooth upgrade of optical fiber, so it quickly won the "hearts" of a group of users. Along this route, the Ethernet Optical Solution applied "color light technology" to upgrade to Ethernet color light, and gradually applied it on a large scale, gathering a new force in the industry.

As a result, in the all-optical campus solution, the solution that integrates Ethernet optical technology has become a must for every network manufacturer. For example, H3C released the Zhirong all-optical solution to promote the two-way integration of Ethernet optical + PON technology. Huawei adopted color optical technology and launched the Star PEN campus network solution. So far, Ethernet color optical technology has officially entered the main stage of the all-optical campus network, and the development of optical networks around Ethernet color optical has officially begun.

From the user's perspective: Examining the battle between Ethernet color light and PON

"First principles" is a philosophical term proposed by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. Its original meaning is: there is a most basic proposition in every system that cannot be violated. From the perspective of enterprise digitalization, "first principles" represent a return to the origin and essence of the business and starting from the demand, which means a user perspective. Because what enterprises need is the ability to solve problems, not the technology itself, which brings new thinking: no matter how obscure and mysterious the technology is, customers should get the simplest results.

In other words, the technology from the user's perspective is always the most in line with the development trend of the times. So, from the user's perspective, why can Ethernet color light "end" the mainstream status of PON technology solutions? First of all, the core issue that park users are most concerned about is the performance of the network. Whether the network is fast or not is the most intuitive feeling when enterprises are undergoing digital transformation.

In terms of performance, PON technology has an unavoidable problem, which is bandwidth sharing. That is, as the number of users and business volume of campus networks increase, the bandwidth bottleneck problem of PON networks will become increasingly prominent, especially for traffic-based services.

In contrast, Ethernet color optical technology uses wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology to achieve multi-wavelength, high-bandwidth transmission on optical fiber, meeting the diverse bandwidth needs of different services in the campus network. The more demanding the network bandwidth is, the more suitable this technology is for the service.

Secondly, the park operator, as another form of "user" of the park network, is responsible for the management and operation of the network. Their demands are to keep it as simple as possible, and the technical difficulty and cost should not be too high. The difficulty of network operation and maintenance is another "fatal problem" of PON technology. Traditional network operation and maintenance personnel are all from Ethernet technology, but PON networks usually require specialized technicians for maintenance and management, which invisibly increases the operation and maintenance costs.

At the same time, the shared bandwidth mechanism of the PON network will make troubleshooting and locating more difficult. The key to "Ethernet Color Optical" lies in the word "Ethernet". Based on the architectural advantages of Ethernet, ordinary network operation and maintenance personnel can operate and maintain the network without training. The Ethernet Color Optical Network supports a centralized management platform, which can realize real-time monitoring, troubleshooting and performance optimization of the entire network.

Third, the cost issue is also an issue that the operators of campus networks will continue to pay attention to. It must be admitted that the initial construction cost of Ethernet color optical network may be slightly higher than that of PON network, but when faced with high bandwidth requirements and complex business scenarios, the bandwidth bottleneck and scalability issues of PON network may lead to increased operating costs in the later stage. Therefore, from the perspective of the entire life cycle, the longer the application and evolution of the network, the higher the cost performance of Ethernet color optical network will be.

As mentioned above, the inherent splitter limitation and bandwidth sharing mechanism of PON network will lead to insufficient scalability. However, Ethernet color light supports flexible networking mode and can be customized according to the actual needs of the campus network to adapt to business changes without making major adjustments to the network architecture.

Obviously, if we examine the advantages and disadvantages of Ethernet optical networks and PON networks from the user's perspective, it is not difficult to judge the future of Ethernet optical technology, especially after the Ethernet 400G protocol standard has matured commercially and the 800G standard has been implemented, which makes its advantages in the mainstream market more evident.

Converging Lighthouses: Illuminating the Future of All-Optical Campus Networks

If every attempt to upgrade the campus network is regarded as a technological "voyage", then in the process of sailing, we will inevitably encounter various "reefs" or "storms". As one of the paths for the full optical upgrade of the campus network, the technical value of ether color light has undoubtedly been revealed, but its practical value still needs more "lighthouses" to guide the direction of the sailing ships.

In fact, Ruijie has laid the foundation for Ethernet all-optical since 2021, and has continued to improve its technology and solution capabilities every year until the minimalist Ethernet color optical solution in 2024. Today's Ethernet color optical is far from comparable to the original Ethernet all-optical. Whether it is the support for Wi-Fi 7, the integration with the power supply system, or the INC network intent commander or the built-in intelligent operation and maintenance system EMB that comes with the solution itself, the capabilities of Ethernet color optical have reached a new level.

In industry practice, Ruijie has accumulated rich customer practice experience and successful cases in many fields such as education, medical care, enterprise, and intelligent manufacturing.

In classrooms, offices, dormitories, clinics, wards, production workshops... there are many cases of Ethernet color optical networks being implemented. In the detailed design of each scene, the minimalist Ethernet color optical solution also strives for perfection. For example, in the classroom scenario, in the face of the growing network demand for smart teaching, passive transparent convergence equipment is deployed in the weak current room of the building, and the middle layer is completely passive, reducing the number of backbone optical cable resources and copper cables, ensuring that the bridge is neat and standardized, and avoiding safety hazards. When there is a need for new business terminals in the classroom, there is no need to route cables from the weak current room. The minimalist optical switch in the room can be used for nearby wiring, shortening the construction period, ensuring the rapid launch of new services, and reducing construction costs.

In the clinic, in order to improve the efficiency of medical services and improve the patient experience, frequent drilling and wiring affect the medical business, and the use of Hubs and fool-proof switches will bring more troubles to network stability and operation and maintenance. The minimalist Ethernet color light solution can quickly achieve indoor network expansion access by entering the room to manage remote modules, and supports loop self-healing remote management, improving 60% operation and maintenance efficiency.

In enterprise scenarios, through grid deployment, the use of time hosts and optoelectronic hybrid cables to transmit data and power over long distances can flexibly adapt to the flexible production needs of the workshop, reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO) by 20%; using IP50 protection level switching equipment to meet the needs of high temperature resistance, dust resistance, and electromagnetic interference resistance in production scenarios, business stability is improved by 50%.

Because of so many outstanding performances, more and more users choose Ethernet Color Optical Network. Data display: At the beginning of 2024, Ruijie Ethernet Color Optical Network has achieved more than 100,000 indoor users, and in just half a year, Ethernet Color Optical Network has set a new record, achieving a significant growth of more than 200,000 indoor users.

Users have sharp eyes. As the light spots of the lighthouse gather more and more, they will form a radiance, illuminating the future path of all-optical campus network upgrade. And there is only one protagonist in this story line, that is: EtherColor Optical Network.