NORDUnet’s Lars Lange Bjørn has been nominated for the GÉANT Community Award for his leading role in the innovation of spectrum sharing in optical networks. We believe he deserves your vote.
During TNC 2008 in Bruges, a radical idea was proposed: that optical waves from one optical network could be transmitted across other optical networks, allowing a single optical fibre to be shared between multiple networks, and allowing an institution in Copenhagen to be directly connected to an institution in Amsterdam, with a private, optical link.
The idea was considered radical because everyone knew that was not how optical networks were built. Each network had its own domain, and all links were terminated at the edge of one network and connected to another link in another network. The technology of the day did not allow for optical signals to cross the edge.
Despite this, a partnership was formed to realize the idea, and a group of engineers were put in charge of developing solutions. From the beginning, Lars Lange Bjørn played a leading role, working initially with SURF engineer Roeland Nuijts. Despite the team repeatedly being told that it would never work in in the real world, that the networks would be unstable, unsupportable, and impossible to operate, they persisted. Over the years that followed, a new technology, back then known as Alien Waves, emerged, always with Lars pushing developments forward.
Recognition of the alien wave idea grew, and supported by among others SURF, NORDUnet, DTU, UvA, the GÉANT project, Nortel, and Alcatel, the capability to do what we today know as spectrum sharing emerged, i.e., having multiple networks each using part of the optical spectrum on a fibre. With this innovation, optical transport infrastructure can be shared between networks, cost can be reduced, flexibility increased, and new applications and services supported.
Throughout this evolution, Lars’ technology expertise, persistence, and ability to collaborate across multiple communities and with changing partners, resolved countless technical and operational challenges, demonstrated to both the NREN communities and our industry partners that we were serious about the innovation, and – helped by a range of other technologies that have emerged since 2008 – brought spectrum sharing from a research idea to a practical, realized technology.
Today, spectrum sharing is recognized as stable, well-understood technology, and is supported by both network equipment vendors (who support spectrum sharing as a use case for their equipment), and by commercial network providers (who will sell spectrum on fibres as a product).
Spectrum sharing is today widely used by European NREN community. The NORDUnet optical network is largely built without dedicated fibre, using spectrum provided by NRENs. Large parts of the GÉANT network just completed in GN4-3N is built with spectrum sharing, using both spectrum provided by NRENs on their fibre networks, and spectrum procured from commercial vendors (at a lower cost than full fibres). Spectrum sharing is used to support Research Infrastructures with dedicated, high-capacity networks, utilizing the existing NREN fibre networks. And spectrum sharing is used to support new applications such as time-and-frequency and quantum networking.
Spectrum sharing is a key innovation of the NREN community – a technology we pioneered, developed, found acceptance for, and were fortunate to see the commercial market adopt and productize. It is a fundamental component in our network technology arsenal for a range of applications, and it helps us build better networks at a lower cost. It has reduced the cost and enlarged the footprint of the GÉANT and NORDUnet networks and it is enabling new services. Spectrum is now a service offered by the GÉANT network for the members.
Lars Lange Bjørn was instrumental in the emergence and evolution of this innovation. His has had tremendous impact on R&E networks, contributing to better, more flexible and more cost effective networks for GÉANT members and their connected institutions and helped European NRENs exploit the technology. This contribution has lasting impact.
Please take a moment to cast your vote for Lars Lange Bjørn, acknowledging his contributions and the transformative power of perseverance and innovative thinking in our field.Your vote celebrates innovation and the collective progress of our community. Thank you for your support.
