Xtera demos 100 Gbps with Raman amplification

Jan. 16, 2012
Xtera Communications, Inc. has reported the results of a recent demonstration of 100-Gbps coherent transmission paired with Raman amplification technologies. The demonstration consisted of 26 channels at 100-Gbps each with coherent detection, including digital signal processing and soft-decision forward error correction.

Xtera Communications, Inc. has reported the results of a recent demonstration of 100-Gbps coherent transmission paired with Raman amplification technologies. The demonstration consisted of 26 channels at 100-Gbps each with coherent detection, including digital signal processing and soft-decision forward error correction.

The channels traveled over a 424-km long unrepeatered link with optical attenuation of 74.2 dB. This result exceeds the unrepeatered transmission of 8x100G over a loss in excess of 76 dB previously reported by Xtera.

The demonstration underscores the potential of coherent 100-Gbps transmission when used with Raman amplification, Xtera asserts. The company also points out this technology pairing in other link configurations, including:

  • Up to 3,000-km unregenerated transmission distance with uniformly spaced in-line amplifiers
  • Insertion of long spans within an all-optical path (e.g., 250-km, 60-dB span in an all-optical route exceeding 1,300 km already deployed by Xtera in an Nx100G network)
  • An all-optical path of 2,400 km engineered and deployed by Xtera in an Nx100G network.

Xtera says that the noise performance of Raman amplification combined with the higher coding gain provided by soft-decision forward error correction can ensure longer reach and better performance than competing technologies. Raman optical amplification also enables precise and optimum control of the per-channel profile, which limits nonlinear effects to extend reach even further, according to the company.

"Beyond unrivalled reach performance, Raman optical amplification offers wide optical bandwidth that cannot be matched by traditional transmission systems based on Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA)," said Herve Fevrier, executive vice president and COO at Xtera Communications. "As a result, using our high-performance common line equipment and our current 100G technology, Xtera can offer 15-Tbps line capacity today."

For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyers Guide.

Sponsored Recommendations

Transforming the metro network and the evolution of the "Digital Service Provider"

March 4, 2025
Join experts at EXFO and Ekinops in this webinar that will review the evolving metro-centric requirements and the technologies emerging to meet them.

Unveiling the Synergy Between AI and Optical Networking

March 12, 2025
Join us for an engaging discussion with industry experts on the intersection of AI and optics. Moderated by Sean Buckley, editor-in-chief of Lightwave+BTR, this panel will explore...

Innovations Optical Transceivers

March 10, 2025
The continual movement around artificial intelligence (AI) cluster environments is driving new sales of optical transceiver sales and the adoption of linear pluggable optics (...

ON TOPIC: Filling Coverage Gaps, Enhancing Public Safety

Jan. 30, 2025
With the ongoing drive to support AI and the need for high-speed data center interconnection, the call for higher-speed 800G optical technology is emerging. Initially focused ...