Ekinops announced the successful completion of EMBRACE, a collaborative Franco-Canadian project aimed at advancing multiband optical transmission technologies. The project, led by Orange Innovation with participation from Ekinops, EXAIL, MPB Communications, and IMT Atlantique, demonstrated the first known multi-band (S+C+L band) optical transmission in a metro/regional scenario spanning four 100 km links. Project EMBRACE earned an “Excellent” rating in its final evaluation, marking a key milestone in the development of Petabit/s elastic networks.
Launched in early 2021, EMBRACE—short for Efficient Multi-Band netwoRk Architecture and Components for Petabit/s Elastic networks—focused on enabling operators to expand the capacity of existing fiber infrastructure. The project successfully demonstrated new technologies including multi-band discrete and distributed Raman amplifiers, multi-band MUX/DEMUX, wavelength selective switches, and transceivers. Ekinops contributed S-band Raman amplifiers that can be extended to other bands. Five multi-band amplification sites were built as part of the proof-of-concept, showing a scalable path toward industrial adoption.
The results will help operators maximize ROI on legacy fiber and prepare networks for future capacity demands. Project partners and auditors—including the Celtic office, BPIfrance, and Orange—praised the system design as “remarkable.” Ekinops’ participation was funded by Région Bretagne and Lannion Trégor Communauté. The company sees this as a strong step forward in helping operators push beyond today’s optical transport limits.
- EMBRACE project achieves first metro/regional multi-band optical transmission demo
- Ekinops delivers S-band Raman amplifiers for multi-band architecture
- 4×100 km link built with five multi-band amplification sites
- Technologies include Raman amplifiers, MUX/DEMUX, and multi-band transceivers
- Project funded under PSPC-Régions by Région Bretagne and Lannion Trégor Communauté
“This project answers the growing need for operators to make the most capacity out of their existing equipment,” said Claude Le Bouëtté, Senior Director Transport R&D at Ekinops. “The business relevance of this project is very high for the market and for all involved partners as it pushes beyond the data’s current transport capacity while reusing installed legacy fiber.”
