Although on many occasions certain technological advances do not end up reaching the general public, their simple existence makes us look to the future and what the speed of fiber navigation may be in time.
The Japanese company NTT has presented a peculiar device that the capacity of the optical transmission system will increase 12 times and the energy consumption per bit will be reduced to 10%.
Huge progress in optical networks
NTT, a Japanese communications company specializing in system integration, has reported a new technology capable of achieving higher capacity, longer transmission distances and lower power consumption in optical networks.
The company hasn’t offered many details about its technology, but described it using “a digital coherent detection scheme, in which the polarization, amplitude, and phase of light are captured as digital data.”
Digital coherent technology is a transmission method that combines digital signal processing and coherent detection. Coherent sensing can capture the amplitude and phase of light by using the light interference between the received signal light and the local laser light on the receiving side.
This enables polarization division multiplexing and phase modulation and can improve frequency utilization efficiency. In addition, coherent detection enables precise equalization of optical signal distortion by digital signal processing and significantly improves receive sensitivity.
By using the patented developed device, the optical signal modulation speed is increased to 140 Giga baud , the highest in the world, and 1.2 Tbit/s per wavelength is achieved, which is 1.5 times higher. faster than before.
In addition, the device developed makes it possible to double the optical transmission distance of 800 Gbit/s. As a result, the capacity of the optical transmission system will increase 12 times and the energy consumption per bit will be reduced to 10% of the widely used commercial system (100 Gbit/s per channel).
The technology of the future in fiber optics
The maximum capacity per wavelength reached so far in the world was 800 Gbit/s. This device from NTT increases this by 1.5 times.
It is possible to use a higher multilevel modulation format to increase the capacity per wavelength, but this limits the transmission distance. Increasing the modulation rate from 100 Giga baud to 140 Giga baud results in greater resistance to waveform distortion and optical amplification noise caused by transmission. As a result, the transmission distance of 800 Gbit/s signals can be extended to more than twice that of 100 Giga baud devices.
NTT aims to create an innovative network with high capacity, low latency, flexibility and low power consumption by continuing to expand and develop end-to-end photonics technology.
