Confessions of a "colorful light": the road to change after entering 100,000 rooms

From 0 to 10W+ Ruijie Ethernet Color Light Every Step

Ethereum All-Light Foundation Laying in 2021

Ruijie Networks innovatively proposed a representative solution for Ethernet all-optical routes - the simplified Ethernet all-optical solution 1.0 . Based on the use of optical fiber as the transmission medium, the switch is directly sunk into the room. This measure not only simplifies the wiring, but also allows new services to be flexibly expanded in the room to complete the terminal access. In addition, it brings high-speed networks directly into the room through optical fiber, achieving Gigabit/10G access to the room.

IPL productization in 2022

The Minimalist Optical 2.X solution innovatively applies the "black technology" - color light technology on a large scale in the campus's all-optical network , and combines color light technology with the Ethernet all-optical architecture to achieve a two-layer networking structure, replacing the original building's active aggregation with passive transparent aggregation, making the aggregation node completely passive and the weak current room zero maintenance .

Since then, Ethernet color light technology has truly entered the park's all-optical network.

IPL scale-up in 2023

The Minimalist Optical 3.0 solution has made further breakthroughs based on 2.X. It integrates color optical technology with switches, integrates wavelength division multiplexers into newly launched core-side devices, and launches frame-type/box-type color optical switches that support hyper-aggregated ports. The core-side devices are highly integrated, which improves network stability and management efficiency.

The "infinite" possibilities of color light in 2024

The minimalist light 3.X solution explores more possibilities for color light.

The combination of color light and Wi-Fi 7 , the backbone network adopts a large two-layer architecture, supports 2.5G/10G indoor access, and the terminal matches the new generation of Wi-Fi 7 AP in multiple scenarios, bringing high-speed wireless to a colorful life;

The combination of color light and power supply realizes centralized power supply for access layer equipment, and makes the management rights and responsibilities of weak and strong electricity clear;

IGO is paired with INC Network Intent Commander or the built-in intelligent operation and maintenance system EMB to create a one-stop management and operation environment for network administrators, including switching, wireless, routing, and security network devices, to achieve simpler operation and maintenance.

After three years, Ethernet Color Light has successfully entered various industries and has been applied on a large scale in education, medical care, enterprises, intelligent manufacturing and other industries. It has entered classrooms, offices, dormitories, clinics, wards, and production workshops, achieving entry into more than 100,000 rooms, bringing faster, more stable, smarter, and greener colorful networks to all walks of life .

What is IPL? Why use IPL?

Color optical technology usually refers to the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology in the field of optical communications . This is a technology that can transmit multiple optical signals of different wavelengths through the same optical fiber, and each wavelength signal carries an independent information flow.

The core of color optical technology is to use light of different wavelengths to transmit different data streams, thereby achieving multiplexing and increasing the transmission capacity of optical fibers . It can significantly improve the bandwidth utilization of optical fiber networks and support higher-speed data transmission. In applications in education, enterprises, medical and other industries, wavelength division technology can provide more stable and faster network connections to meet the bandwidth needs of the big data era.

Technical principle

WDM uses specific devices, such as multiplexers (MUX) and demultiplexers (DEMUX), to combine optical signals of different wavelengths into one optical signal at the transmitting end, and then transmit it through a single optical fiber. At the receiving end, the demultiplexer separates these optical signals of different wavelengths and restores them to the original multiple signal streams.

Key Benefits

• Large-capacity transmission : WDM technology can significantly increase the data transmission capacity of a single optical fiber.
• Save fiber resources : Compared with single-wavelength systems, WDM technology reduces the number of optical fibers required, saving resources and costs.
• Network flexibility and reliability : WDM systems support the addition of new channels without interrupting services, improving network flexibility and reliability.

10W+ color light enters the room to illuminate every aspect of the campus network

Ruijie's simplified optical solution organically combines color optical technology and Ethernet full optical:

On the core side , the wavelength division multiplexer is integrated into the hyper-aggregated core switch. Through the hyper-aggregated color optical module, eight pairs of optical signals with different wavelengths with a wavelength interval of 20nm are transmitted to the building side through one optical fiber, replacing the previous eight optical fibers, effectively saving more than 85% of backbone optical cable resources;

At the aggregation layer , the building side uses transparent aggregation equipment to separate optical signals of different wavelengths to different rooms, making the aggregation layer passive and maintenance-free. At the same time, optical signals of different wavelengths are combined and divided, so that the trunk optical fiber between the super aggregation module and the transparent aggregation can transmit multiple optical signals at the same time without interfering with each other, and their respective bandwidths are not affected, ensuring exclusive bandwidth for entering the room .

On the access side , thanks to the continuous innovation in architecture, products and technologies, EtherColor has met the needs of different specific business environments through scenario-based adaptation, and has achieved access to 100,000 rooms :

Illumination in the classroom

In the face of the gradually growing network demand for smart teaching , passive transparent aggregation equipment is deployed in the weak-current room of the building, making the middle layer completely passive, reducing the number of backbone optical cable resources and copper cables, ensuring that the bridge is clean and standardized, and avoiding safety hazards.

When there is a need for new business terminals in the classroom, there is no need to run cables from the weak-current room. The minimalist optical switch installed in the room can be used to run cables nearby, shortening the construction period, ensuring the rapid launch of new services, and reducing construction costs.

IPL in the dormitory

By deploying transparent aggregation in the weak-current room and centralized power supply hosts in the strong-current room, relying on Ethernet color optical technology and centralized power supply solutions for equipment, dormitories can achieve separate deployment of equipment data and power supply. Data goes through the weak-current room to achieve full passivity, and power supply goes through the strong-current room and is managed uniformly by logistics, which greatly reduces operation and maintenance pressure and improves network stability.

IPL in the office

Multiple models of wired/wireless devices are conveniently deployed flexibly according to the actual needs of the office. Large offices can deploy indoor multi-rate switches, and small offices can deploy wired and wireless integrated color light panel APs. A variety of indoor installation methods are flexible and more beautiful.

IPL 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 optical solution can quickly achieve indoor network expansion access by bringing remote modules into the room, and supports loop self-healing remote management, improving operation and maintenance efficiency by 60%.

IPL in the ward

As the construction of smart ward systems becomes mainstream, the surge in wired, wireless, and IoT access terminals in wards has brought higher demands on indoor networks. The minimalist optical solution combined with color optical technology can uniformly carry wired/wireless/IoT. PoE indoor optical switches are deployed in the room to facilitate business expansion and nearby access, avoiding waste of ward resources due to network upgrades and renovations.

IPL in the workshop

In response to the flexible production needs of corporate workshops, the overall solution has made a grid deployment in the network and equipment, providing data and power supply over long distances through time hosts and optoelectronic hybrid cables, providing flexible business support and reducing TCO by 20%; industrial-grade stable and reliable IP50 protection-level switching equipment meets the needs of high temperature resistance, dust resistance, and electromagnetic interference resistance in production scenarios, improving business stability by 50%.

After three years of innovation, Ruijie Illumination has achieved a breakthrough from 0 to 100,000 rooms . In the future, Ruijie will continue to provide more efficient, reliable and intelligent network solutions through continuous technological innovation and solution innovation, so that Illumination can benefit more scenarios, illuminate more smart parks, and support the continuous advancement of the digitalization and intelligentization of various industries.