AUGUST 2, 2007 -- CIP (search for CIP) will display a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) family at ECOC that is says offers both the performance and economy needed to implement advanced PONs based on WDM.
In WDM-PON architectures it is important that the optical sources at each optical network unit (ONU) are as simple as possible to reduce costs. CIP says a reflective optical architecture using an RSOA is an attractive approach as it provides a colorless, amplifying, low-cost upstream transmitter.
Capable of delivering more than 20 dB of optical gain, CIP's asserts its new component provides optical data transmission at Gigabit Ethernet rates without need for either a local wavelength-stabilized source or temperature control. This combination of performance and economy for consumer ONUs provides a platform for access network providers to boost performance radically compared with today's EPON/GPON technologies, the company claims.
To support the cost and manufacturing demands of access network companies, the RSOA component is being made available in a TO-56 can package for easy integration into micro-optic assemblies for consumers. The RSOA device itself is monolithic and fabricated using an InP process that CIP says is well suited to high-yield volume manufacture.
CIP says its RSOA component provides high-speed transmission capability for clients in WDM-PON networks by reflecting and modulating a "seed" light that is transmitted throughout the network. Light from a broadband source can be split into different wavelengths for use in different segments of the network by means of an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG). This architecture allows the RSOA to deliver dedicated gigabit optical data transmission facility to clients in FTTH/FTTP access network architectures without the expense of a tunable wavelength source at the ONU. In addition to minimizing the costs of the bidirectional fiber-optic assembly (BIDI) required for client premises, this approach allows one standard BIDI to be manufactured and installed for all users.
R&D engineers have been investigating RSOAs for use in PON applications for a number of years, but such work is often based on standard amplifiers with less than optimal characteristics, CIP says. The company asserts that its new RSOA family features a novel curved waveguide architecture that provides a designed-for-purpose component for WDM-PONs.
Data can be modulated at rates of up to 1.25 Gbits/sec from standard production devices (in lab conditions, CIP says it has achieved 2.5 Gbits/sec performance).
CIP will offer two versions of the RSOA device initially: polarization sensitive or polarization insensitive. The polarized version is designed to operate over a range of 0 to 70 degrees C without any need for a temperature control device such as a Peltier cooler, further lowering the cost of transceiver assemblies for volume consumer applications. CIP's RSOA has also been demonstrated to operate well in some applications at temperatures up to 80 degrees C, the company adds.
Among the performance attributes for the polarization insensitive version are smooth output characteristics with a gain ripple of 0.5 dB typical and a small signal gain of 20 dB typical over a wavelength range from 1530 to 1570 nm in the C band, the company says. CIP says it can also produce the device for other wavelengths if required.
CIP adds it is working with PON systems partners who see this technology as ideal for next-generation networks.
CIP will present an invited paper on the RSOA at ECOC: "High Temperature, Colourless Operation of a Reflective Semiconductor Optical Amplifier for 2.5Gbit/s upstream transmission in a WDM-PON" on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 from 08:30 to 09:00
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