Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Huawei Build the World's First Passive Ethernet Network (PEN) for Higher Education Outside China

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), one of Malaysia’s leading public research universities, has partnered with Huawei to deploy the world’s first Passive Ethernet Network (PEN) solution in the higher education sector outside China. This groundbreaking network ushers in a new era of ultra-broadband, intelligent, and energy-efficient connectivity across UPM’s student dormitories.

Empowering a Smart, High-Quality Campus Experience

UPM is a top-tier Malaysian university with over 30,000 students and staff across its 1,103-hectare Serdang campus and branch in Sarawak. To enhance students’ digital experience and ensure uninterrupted learning, UPM sought to upgrade its existing dormitory network into a high-speed, new all-optical infrastructure.

However, the legacy copper-based system faced major challenges:

• Outdated devices and limited scalability hindered future bandwidth expansion.
• High O&M workloads due to numerous ELV rooms and complex cabling.
• Frequent connection drops during roaming, impacting service continuity and learning quality.

UPM needed a next-generation optical network architecture capable of reducing costs, simplifying maintenance, and delivering consistent performance to thousands of concurrent users.

Huawei PEN: A Leap Forward in Network Evolution

To address these challenges, Huawei introduced the Passive Ethernet Network (PEN) — a future-ready solution designed for dormitory environments. By bringing 10 Gigabit to the Room, Huawei’s PEN enables high-speed connectivity with simplified architecture and smart management.

Solution Highlights

• Ultra-broadband performance:
160 Gbps uplink bandwidth — twice the industry average — with high-concurrency, wide-coverage wireless access and seamless roaming.
• Intelligent & simplified design:
Reuse of existing core switches and elimination of floor ELV rooms reduce investment and cabling complexity.
• Smart O&M with iMaster NCE Campus:
Cloud-based planning, 3D simulation, unified management, and minute-level fault locating drastically improve troubleshooting efficiency.
• Secure and reliable:
Integrated WPA3, and WIPS provide full security assurance for dormitory environments.
• Energy-saving architecture:
Passive components and network-level power management reduce electricity and cooling requirements.

Customer Benefits

• 10 Gigabit to the Room:
Direct fiber connections to high-performance APs ensure stable, high-bandwidth service for multiple users per room — no bottlenecks, even during peak hours.
• Simplified Architecture:
Passive access layer eliminates ELV rooms, reducing space, power, and cabling needs. One-time cabling offers durability and scalability for the next decade.
• Intelligent Management:
Unified, visualized O&M and real-time fault detection enhance reliability while lowering OPEX and mean time to repair (MTTR).
• Sustainable Campus Operations:
Lower energy use and simplified design contribute to UPM’s sustainability goals and digital campus strategy.

Setting a Global Benchmark for Smart Campus

UPM’s deployment of the Huawei Xingmai PEN solution represents a global benchmark for higher education network transformation. It demonstrates how Malaysia’s universities can lead in adopting advanced new all-optical network technologies to enable smarter, greener, and more connected campus environments.

Huawei will continue collaborating with UPM to expand new all-optical innovations across more facilities, including classrooms, laboratories, and libraries — supporting Malaysia’s vision of a digital, intelligent, and sustainable education ecosystem.