At EarthPM, people from IT departments of every sort always ask us - perhaps challlenge us is a better way to put it - how they can help.
"We're in IT", the story goes. "We aren't an energy-intense organization. Are you telling us to turn our computers off and keep the lights and heat off when nobody's there?". And the answer is, of course, yes. These things will help.
But it is bigger than that. And IT (Information Technology) is bigger than that.
Bigger, in terms of size, and bigger in terms of maturity.
Witness the press announcement we share below, from a non-profit consortium called GreenTouch. Established just a few years ago, it is "dedicated to fundamentally transforming communications and data networks, including the Internet, and significantly reducing the carbon footprint of ICT devices, platforms and networks."
They have set lofty and worthy goals which hopefully help answer some of the edgy questions we get from our IT colleagues:
By 2015, our goal is to deliver the architecture, specifications and roadmap --and demonstrate key components -- needed to increase network energy efficiency by a factor of 1000 from current levels. We'll accomplish this by designing fundamentally new network architectures and creating the enabling technologies on which they are based.
In reaching this goal, GreenTouch members and the global community will benefit from:
A reinvention of today’s telecommunications networks
A sustainable future for data networking and the Internet
Unprecedented collaboration with leading experts from around the world
Participation in fundamental research in exciting new areas
Access to network models and studies examining key energy related issues
New information on network power consumption, traffic growth, and energy trends
So now to the news. Here is their press release about this latest development and fiinally, the connection to the streets of San Francisco.
The GreenTouch Consortium, a global research initiative dedicated to dramatically improving network energy efficiency, introduced a major breakthrough for optical access -- Bit-Interleaved Passive Optical Network (Bi-PON) technology. GreenTouch estimates Bi-PON ultimately could deliver power reduction of 30 times over current technologies while improving performance and reducing cost.
In a webcast, researchers from Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs, France's INRIA research lab and France Telecom Orange, described how the bit interleaving passive optical network (BIPON) leverages a new protocol that cuts energy consumption in time division multiplexing (TDM) PON optical network units (ONUs) by a factor of 10 compared to today’s protocols. The key observation is that 99% of data is unnecessarily processed in ONUs today. By modifying the protocol, an order of magnitude improvement in ONU performance can be attained.
The bit interleaving protocol reduces energy consumption in the ONU by reducing clock speed requirements, data processing requirements, voltage requirements, and memory requirements. The bits are spaced in time to match the clock rate. The bit interleaving protocol frame structure includes a header and a payload section. The header contains a synchronization code word and a unique identifier for each ONU on the PON. The header also contains information that allows the ONU to know where its payload bits are — at what offset and bit rate they are being sent in the payload section.
The consortium members said Bi-PON represents the next major leap in passive optical network (PON) technologies. It is expected to be a necessity as electronic processing will increase with future 40GPON systems.
“With this demonstration, GreenTouch again shows why it is one of the most ambitious collaborative environments in sustainable network technologies,” said Gee Rittenhouse, GreenTouch chairman. “We are committed to reducing energy consumption across all ICT networks and Bi-PON is a huge and critical step in helping us achieve that goal. The impact is clear and wide-ranging including wireless backhaul and fiber to the home. Implementing Bi-PON over current technologies will have the energy savings equivalent to the carbon impact of permanently taking all the cars in a city like San Francisco off the road. We are making great progress toward our goal and are planning to make advances like this across all of our 25 research projects that are currently underway.”
If you're prepared for a rather detailed technical description and demo of this BiPon technology, watch the video below:
So next time you wonder whether or not IT can make a difference, flash back to (if you are old enough) an episode of The Streets of San Francisco.
