News Article
Infinera InP 100G PIC covers 1348 km of Coherent Transmission
The firm has completed a field trial on the XO Communication Network using its Indium Phosphide based Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs).
Infinera has completed a successful field trial of 100 Gigabit per second (100G) coherent transmission over a 1348 kilometer route on the XO Communications nationwide network. The trial used Infinera's new 500 Gigabit per second (500G) Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) which each integrate five 100G channels.
Infinera believes the field trial marks a significant step towards the future commercial deployment of PIC-based optical systems based on 100G coherent transmission to deliver upgrades in total fiber capacity as well as the disruptive economics of photonic integration.
The field trial involved Infinera's 500G PICs transmitting and receiving a 100G signal on a 1348 km production route between Denver and Dallas on the XO optical fiber network. The route is built with Infinera's 100G-ready ILS WDM line system, which provides scalable fiber capacity up to 8 Terabits per second.
During the field trial the ILS system was carrying 10G and 100G channels simultaneously. The 100G channel was transmitted using PM-QPSK modulation and coherent detection to enable error-free unrepeatered transmission 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.
"We are pleased to support development of Infinera's PIC-based 100G-based systems," said XO Communications Chief Technology Officer Randy Nicklas. "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."
"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," said Infinera CEO Tom Fallon. "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."
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.
To solve this problem, Infinera's 500G PICs incorporate more than 600 optical elements on a pair of indium phosphide chips, delivering significant benefits to next-generation Internet-centric networks, providing an effective means for service providers to scale network capacity while simultaneously obtaining lower space consumption, lower power consumption, increased reliability, and superior network economics. In the longer term, without photonic integration, ever-increasing bandwidth demand would continue to drive up network complexity, making photonic integration key to achieving superior carrier economics.
Infinera provides Digital Optical Networking systems to telecommunications carriers worldwide. Infinera's systems are unique in their use of a breakthrough semiconductor technology: the photonic integrated circuit (PIC). Infinera's systems and PIC technology are designed to provide customers with simpler and more flexible engineering and operations, faster time-to-service, and the ability to rapidly deliver differentiated services without reengineering their optical infrastructure.
