We speak to Dr. XiPeng Xiao, Head of Chief Engineer Office for Network Product Line at Huawei Europe, which won the category ‘Broadband Innovation of the Year’ at this year’s Broadband Infovision Awards for its 200G line card.

Can you tell us a little more about your entry?

Huawei’s 200G line card for routers was designed to address the surging bandwidth demand in the ultra-broadband era. It features high-performance and low-power consumption, as well as full compatibility and flexible sub card configuration, maximising customer investment protection.

Huawei’s 200G line card uses the in-house designed Solar2.0 chipsets, which is developed by a global team, ranging from Silicon Valley in the US to Beijing and Shenzhen in China. The Solar design team is led by Bill Lynch, a network processor veteran and vice president of Huawei’s network product line.

Why do you think the judges selected your entry for this award?

The whole industry, including operators and end-users, has an endless desire for higher bandwidth and better experiences. As a leading telecom vendor, Huawei is always dedicated to meeting customers’ requirements and go beyond customers’ expectations.

To address the ever-increasing needs of higher bandwidth and better experiences, Huawei has been investing in industry-leading technology research and development. The launch of the industry’s first 200G line card is the most recent example of Huawei’s efforts on this area.

The fact that Huawei’s 200G line card was selected for this award demonstrates on one hand the importance of high-performance, high-density line cards for the ultra-broadband services of the future; on the other hand, it shows Huawei’s understanding of technology trends and its capability for innovation in this area.

What recent industry developments does it specifically address?

The fast growth of mobile broadband and fixed broadband services brings high bandwidth requirements to aggregation and backbone networks. Huawei’s 200G line card provides high-density 100G and 10GE access.

The 200G line card increases the capacity for a single chassis, and can further increase network core node capacity when combined with cluster technology, significantly simplifying network architecture, improving efficiency and lowering maintenance cost.

The launch of Huawei’s 200G line card reduces the quantity of router and line card slots, greatly lowering the pressure of upgrade and reducing OPEX in power and space. As 100G technology becomes more mature, the 200G line card’s strong compatibility enables a seamless upgrading path without wasting the existing hardware.

What do you see as being the biggest single challenge to the broadband industry in the next few years, and why?

The single biggest challenge will be increases in bandwidth, mainly driven by services like mobile broadband, video and new internet applications; and traffic model change brought by cloud computing and network virtualisation

How do you think the industry should start preparing to meet this challenge?

On one hand, vendors need to take continuous efforts to provide higher-density, higher-performance line cards; at the same time, we should optimise traffic models using distributed mode and other methods to reduce pressure in aggregation and backbone network.

How does being named for this award benefit your business?

Winning this award shows that judges recognised Huawei’s strength in innovation and our understanding of industry trends. Huawei will lead technical innovation based on global R&D facilities, push the industry forward, and provide the best solutions to help our customers achieve greater success in the future.

This year’s Broadband InfoVision Awards were announced during a gala dinner held aboard a river cruise in Paris on September 27th, 2011. For a complete list of winners, please click here