TECHNOLOGIES & PRODUCTS
Socionext takes part in record- breaking transmission field trial
S ocionext’s latest generation of ultra- high-speed digital-to- analogue (DAC) and analogue- to-digital (ADC) converters, have been integrated into state-of-the-art coherent receivers and transmitters for a recent, record-breaking field trial which transported dozens of terabits per second over a 762 kiliometer Lyon-Marseille- Lyon fibre link. Socionext were part of a team of advanced technology engineers that included staff from Orange, Coriant, Ekinops and Keopsys and have successfully demonstrated the highest ever C-band transmission capacity using 24 x 1 Tbps/DP-16 QAM (i.e. 24 Tbps), 32 x 1 Tbps / DP-32 QAM (i.e. 32 Tbps) and 32 x 1.2 Tbps/DP-64 QAM (i.e. 38.4 Tbps) modulation formats in a ‘live’ networking environment. By achieving transmission reach of 762 kilometres in the same ‘live’ environment, the test has more than doubled the previous field record for 32 QAM and is the
“Having already supported the launch of the leading 100 Gbit, 200 Gbit and 400 Gbit technology we are confident that highly power efficient, economic single chip Terra- bit systems are also within reach.”
and ADC IP optimized for network applications will help system vendors to address the exponential growth of global and metropolitan internet traffic” said Manfred Mettendorff, Senior Director with Socionext Europe.
first ever regional transmission for 64 QAM. The field trial, which was performed within the framework of the European Celtic-Plus SASER (Safe and Secure European Routing) project, funded jointly by the BMBF (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) and DGE (Direction Générale des Entreprises), and supported by the IDEALIST project (Industry-Driven Elastic and Adaptive Lambda Infrastructure for Service and Transport Networks), was conducted using the latest advances in ultra-high capacity optical communications, with an aim of validating the compliance of the participating organisations most advanced optical transport solutions with the real operation constraints of a ‘live’ capital transport network. “We are excited to be able to contribute again to a world record in optical transport with our advanced ADC and DAC technology. Our 3rd and 4th generation DAC
Efficient, comfortable and smart installations, with no splicing or complicated assembly.
Intengent promotes silicon photonics economics to benefit III-V optics
T raditional optics can achieve the economic benefits common to silicon photonics with its use of equipment, processes and fabrication plants paid for by the chip industry. So argues Valery Tolstikhin, head of design consultancy Intengent and former founder and CTO of Canadian start-up OneChip Photonics. Tolstikhin says the rise of silicon photonics has sparked a general interest in the economics of component making. At present, indium phosphide fabs use
components and sub-systems, and III-V foundries that make photonic chips for them. “The aim is that you can go and design within existing fabs and processes something that meets the customer’s application and requirements,” he said. One company Intengent is working with is ELPHiC, a Canadian start-up that is raising funding to make single-mode mid-board optics. The indium- phosphide design combines analogue electronic circuitry with the photonics.
with wafers,” said Tolstikhin. “That is the only way to make a process mature, reproducible and reliable.” To use such MMIC fabs requires that optical devices are designed to be process compatible, requiring them to be manufacturable without using wafer regrowth stages. This is something that Intengent can do and what OneChip Photonics demonstrated with its optical designs. Intengent acts as a bridge between OEMs building optical
specialist processes to make relatively low volumes of optical components. Tolstikhin wants traditional optical component designs to piggyback on higher-volume indium phosphide and gallium arsenide fabs that make electronic devices such as monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) for wireless. “To take photonics out of boutique fabs, you need to do some standardisation and move to a fabless model, then you can load the fabs day and night
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ISSUE 5 | Q3 2015
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