Ciena Corporation announced that the Pacific Wave international network peering facility­which connects research and education (R&E) networks in 40 countries in the Pacific Rim and beyond­was recently upgraded with Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, equipped with WaveLogic coherent optical processors. This deployment will provide 100Gb/s networking capabilities to Pacific Wave's extensive R&E network infrastructure across the western coast of the United States, from Los Angeles to Seattle.

The 100 G backbone now connecting Pacific Wave’s major peering locations will not only provide regional and national high-speed connectivity between higher education and research institutions throughout the US Pacific Coast, but will also allow R&E institutions around the world to collaborate more quickly and effectively in data-intensive, international sciences such as astronomy, oceanography, high-energy physics, and genomics.

In choosing Ciena for this deployment, the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives (CENIC) and the Pacific Northwest Gigapop (PNWGP), who together operate Pacific Wave as a joint project ­ are ensuring that Pacific Wave is consistent with the recent Internet2 and the US Department of Energy (ESnet) 100G backbone upgrades.