Dark Fiber

Networking equipment supplier Infinera (News - Alert) Corp. has completed a successful field trial of 100 Gigabits per second (Gbps) coherent transmission over a 1348 kilometer (838 Miles) route on the XO Communications (News - Alert) nationwide optical fiber network.

In this trial, Infinera employed its new 500 Gbps photonic integrated circuits (PICs), each integrating five 100G channels. The 500G PICs were used for transmitting and receiving a 100G signal on a 1348 km production route between Denver and Dallas on the XO Communications optical fiber network. In fact, Infinera’s 100G-ready Infinera line system (ILS) with switched WDM capability and scalable fiber capacity of up to 8 Terabits per second was deployed on this route.

 According to the developer, during the field trial the ILS system was carrying 10G and 100G channels simultaneously. The 100G channel was transmitted using phase modulated quadrature phase shift keying (PM-QPSK) modulation and coherent detection techniques to enable error-free transmission without repeaters over ultra-long haul distances.

Infinera believes this to be the world’s first demonstration of 100G coherent transmission using fully integrated optical 500G PICs at both transmitter and receiver, including the use of integrated local oscillators in the PIC receiver. Plus, the company calls this trial as a significant step towards the future commercial deployment of PIC-based optical systems based on 100G coherent transmission.

In a statement by Infinera, XO Communications’ CTO Randy Nicklas said, “We are pleased to support development of Infinera’s PIC-based 100G-based systems.” He added, “XO Communications looks forward to the increased capacity and superior efficiency we anticipate these 100G systems will deliver, as we work to meet growing bandwidth demands from our enterprise and wholesale service provider and mobile wireless customers.”

Similarly, Infinera’s CEO Tom Fallon stated, “This trial marks an important milestone in our plan to deliver 100G communications and the next generation of multi-Terabit per second Digital Optical Networks based on 500G PICs.” “We are confident that these new systems will become a disruptive force in the optical market, just as our 10G systems were when we introduced them in 2004,” Fallon affirmed.

According to Infinera, the introduction of 100G PIC-based systems will have important implications for the economics of future networks. Tomorrow’s networks will require many more optical functions per wavelength than do today’s networks. This requirement stems from the advanced modulation formats needed for 100G transmission, and can be expected to lead to increased network cost and complexity if implemented using conventional optical components, said Infinera.

To solve this problem, Infinera’s 500G PICs incorporate more than 600 optical elements on a pair of indium phosphide (InP) chips, delivering significant benefits to next-generation Internet-centric networks.