News

26 March 2009

 

Infinera’s 400Gb/s PIC sets record for integration

Infinera Corp of Sunnyvale, CA, USA, a vertically integrated manufacturer of digital optical network systems incorporating its own indium phosphide-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs), has demonstrated working PICs delivering 400Gb/s of optical capacity in a single pair of chips using complex modulation formats.

The 400G PIC will enable Infinera’s next-generation optics to deliver up to 80% power savings over competitor 40Gb/s wavelength optics based on conventional discrete optical components, reckons the firm. It will operate over Infinera’s ILS2 line system with 25GHz channel spacing, delivering double the spectral density of competitor systems that operate over 50GHz spacing.

The 400Gb/s transmit PIC, currently running in Infinera’s labs, integrates more than 300 optical functions and enables a reduction in optical component packages from about 70 to just one. The 400G PIC pair marks a landmark in Infinera’s PIC roadmap, representing a four-fold increase in ‘bits per chip’ over the firm’s existing 100Gb/s PICs, and a forty-fold increase over chips in competitor systems, it is claimed. Infinera introduced its industry roadmap for the progress of photonic integration a year ago, targeting a 400Gb/s PIC in 2009 and a doubling of bandwidth capacity or bits per chip every three years.

The 400Gb/s PIC will be at the heart of Infinera’s next-generation systems. It integrates ten lasers to deliver ten optical channels, each operating at 40Gb/s. Data is encoded using polarization-multiplexed differential quadrature phase-shift keying (PM-DQPSK) modulation, which enables optical performance equivalent to 10Gb/s systems on today’s fiber plant. The PM-DQPSK modulation format delivers benefits in terms of lower power consumption, greater spectral efficiency, improved optical reach compared to other complex modulation techniques, and greater resistance to impairments like dispersion. Infinera says that its modulation approach will enable systems based on 400G PICs to be compatible with its 25GHz-spaced ILS2 line system. The firm’s next-generation systems will be designed to enable network operators to scale total fiber capacity to 6.4Tb/s in the C-band (twice what is possible using conventional 40G WDM systems).

With bandwidth demand continuing to grow at about 50% a year according to many estimates, service providers need systems that can deliver increased fiber capacity and spectral efficiency, while simultaneously increasing reliability and reducing space, and power consumption per bit. Traditional discrete-component-based optical systems are challenged to drive down space and power per bit because the complex modulation techniques required for higher fiber capacity require a large number of optical and electronic components.  The new 400Gb/s PIC eliminates a large number of optical components and complex electronic signal processing, achieving greater network reliability and the fiber capacity benefits of complex modulation while consuming significantly less space and power than traditional systems.

Power consumption and access to cost-effective energy in conjunction with the continued expansion of the Internet is becoming one of the most critical issues facing the communications industry today. With the price of energy rising and becoming more volatile, power use has become a more significant factor in service providers’ costs. In the next several years, the technology industry will be driven to increase its energy efficiency at several levels, including the data center and the network. Photonic integration will make a significant contribution to reducing energy consumption per bit for these applications.

Lab demonstrations show that Infinera’s 400Gb/s PICs consume about half the power (on a per Gb/s basis) of its existing 100Gb/s PICs deployed in networks worldwide. The 400Gb/s PICs consume 80% less power per Gb/s compared to existing 40Gb/s optics based on discrete solutions. PICs’ power efficiencies are achieved because PICs can implement thermal control more efficiently with many devices integrated into a single package and there is less optical loss with devices much closer together on the chip.  

“Complex modulation is an important tool in the drive for ever-greater fiber capacity. But complex modulation with conventional technologies comes at the price of more complex optical structures,” says chief marketing & strategy officer Dave Welch. “Because Infinera is able to integrate these structures monolithically, with over 300 individual optical functions on a single chip, the benefits of photonic integration are becoming more powerful than ever before,” he adds.

Infinera system sends data 4000km over subsea network, doubling bandwidth

Infinera has concluded a demonstration in which its PIC-based DTN system transmitted data over a 4000km third-party subsea network (discussed by Infinera fellow Steve Grubb in the Market Watch session ‘More Wavelengths, Higher Bit Rates, More Spectrum…The Path to Harnessing Maximum Fiber Capacity at the Lowest Cost’ at this week’s Optical Fiber Communications conference in San Diego, CA, USA).

The DTN is a digital reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) for long-haul and metro core networks, combining high-capacity dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) transport, integrated digital bandwidth management, and GMPLS-powered service intelligence in a single platform.

Compared to 50GHz on the pre-existing equipment, the DTN’s 25GHz channel spacing doubled the subsea network’s bandwidth capacity. “The ability of the Infinera DTN to transmit data undersea for 4000km, and over a foreign amplifier chain, is a path-breaking demonstration, which holds out the opportunity of a new, innovative, and cost-effective way to increase capacity on subsea networks,” reckons Grubb.

Submarine optical networks include chains of subsea optical amplifiers (designed for the demands of operation on the ocean floor) and submarine line terminating equipment (SLTE) located in terrestrial landing stations and connected to either end of the amplifier chain. In the demonstration, Infinera DTNs replaced the pre-existing SLTE systems and transmitted DWDM optical signals across the pre-existing subsea amplifier chain. 

Infinera chosen for Gulf Coast network

Southern Light LLC of Mobile, AL, USA has selected an Infinera digital optical network for its regional network in the Gulf Coast states, bringing scalability, manageability, and reliability to a region where customers are highly focused on network reliability.

Southern Light’s network spans more than 2000 route miles from Jacksonville, Florida to Lafayette, Louisiana, passing through major metropolitan centers and military installations.

The firm selected Infinera for the flexibility, integrated digital bandwidth management, and GMPLS intelligence of the Infinera network. Based on Infinera’s photonic integrated circuits, which integrate 100Gb/s of capacity onto a pair of chips, the Infinera DTN system provides integrated digital bandwidth management at every node. Infinera’s IQ network operating system enables the network to recognize and configure network assets, and re-route network traffic automatically. Southern Light found that the system offered the capacity and scalability of a DWDM system combined with the manageability and fault-tracking features of a traditional SONET network.

“We have real-time visibility into our DWDM network’s operations,” says Southern Light chief technology officer Jack De La Garza. “Our team is able to manage and troubleshoot the network the same way we would a traditional SONET network.”

De La Garza added that Infinera’s integrated bandwidth management provides greater flexibility than traditional analog ROADMs (reconfigurable add-drop multiplexers), which often encounter wavelength contention issues as more traffic is added to the network. Infinera’s architecture avoids that problem because fully digital switching enables wavelength conversion as and when required. Southern Light carries a significant volume of traffic for wireless carriers. The growth of wireless data traffic, which is anticipated with the growing popularity of high-bandwidth services like wireless video and the transition to 4G wireless networks, should lead to even more business in the wireless sector, while also requiring greater network flexibility, with the more flexible architecture of 4G networks. “Wireless backhaul is a tremendous market for Southern Light, and Infinera will help us meet that opportunity,” says De La Garza.

See related item:

Infinera makes quarterly loss but adds seven new customers

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