Infinera announced two milestones for advanced coherent technologies:
- pushing optical transmission to 100 gigabaud (GBaud) – this compares with typically deployed baud rates of 32 GBaud with the quadrature phase shift keying modulation carrying 4 bits per baud. Industry opto-electronics are moving to 66 GBaud development demonstrations. Infinera has surpassed this by being the first to showcase 100 GBaud using 32QAM to achieve a single-wavelength 1 terabit per second (Tb/s) data rate using multi-channel indium phosphide-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs) integrated with electronic driver and amplifier application-specific integrated circuits. This result was presented at the 2017 European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC).
- pushing modulation technology to 1024QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) — at ECOC, Infinera showcased the higher-order modulation scheme of 1024QAM using advanced constellation shaping algorithms and Nyquist subcarriers, allowing wavelengths to be spaced close to each other to maximize the data rate for a certain reach. The Infinera test bed used 66 GBaud at 1024QAM to reach 1.32 Tb/s, yielding spectral efficiency of 9.35 bits per second per hertz over 400 kilometers (km), an industry first.
Optical transmission capacity is also a function of channel count, where multiple parallel wavelengths are combined on a single module to create a coherent super-channel. Infinera noted that as baud rates increase, placing optical components closer together on an integrated chip reduces component size and power while increasing reliability. Its PIC technology uniquely enables high-channel-count coherent super-channels.
“Infinera is delivering optical engines at a faster cadence to help operators achieve exceptional capacity and reach performance on their transport network infrastructures,” said Dr. Dave Welch, Infinera Co-Founder and President. “As 5G wireless and cable video services take off, Infinera offers significant value to transport network operators by designing industry-first solutions.”
https://www.infinera.com/infinera-makes-terabit-waves-ecoc-2017/