NeoPhotonics launches suite of products to double capacity of optical fibre links
An L-Band suite of coherent optical components has been introduced by NeoPhotonics. The suite includes the 64GBaud L-Band high bandwidth coherent driver modulator (HB-CDM), 64GBaud L-Band intradyne coherent receiver (ICR) and narrow linewidth L-Band tunable laser Micro-ITLA. Together with NeoPhotonics’ standard C-Band coherent components, they enable customers to double the capacity of optical fibre links, says the company.
The C-Band is the primary band for telecommunications with wavelengths centred around 1550nm. The L-Band uses wavelengths centred around 1590nm and is primarily used to complement the C-Band to increase data capacity, especially in long-haul networks. By adding channels in the L-Band, operators can double the capacity of an optical fibre. NeoPhotonics’ 64Gbaud coherent components and tunable lasers enable single channel 600G data transmission over data centre interconnect (DCI) distances of approximately 80km using 64 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation). The components also support 400G over metro distances of 400 to 600km using 64GBaud and 16 QAM or 200G over long haul distances of greater than 1,000km using 64GBaud and quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK).
The NeoPhotonics L-Band External Cavity (ECL) micro-ITLA (pictured) incorporates the same laser architecture as the company’s C-Band laser for a pure optical signal with a narrow linewidth and very low phase noise. In coherent systems, any error in the phase of the signal and reference lasers, due to the laser’s linewidth, can cause data errors, making narrow linewidth critical in systems using higher order modulation, explains the company.
The NeoPhotonics 64Gbaud L-Band HB-CDM integrates an indium phosphide-based Mach-Zehnder (MZ) quadrature modulator chip with a linear, quad-channel, differential 64GBaud driver. Both the C-Band and L-Band versions of the HB-CDM are designed to be compliant to the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) Implementation Agreement OIF-HB-CDM-01.0 (High Bandwidth Coherent Driver Modulator).
The 64Gbaud L-Band Micro-ICR incorporates an integrated co-mixer chip and four balanced photodiodes with four differential linear amplifiers to provide four output channels at 64GBaud. The form factor of the high bandwidth coherent receiver is designed to be compliant with the OIF Implementation Agreement for Micro Integrated Intradyne Coherent Receivers (IA # OIF-DPC-MRX-02.0).
For applications that require more capacity than provided by the standard C-Band, but do not require the full L-Band, C++ versions of each of these components is available. They support tuning across the full Super C-band (6.0THz, or up to 50 per cent more than standard systems, says NeoPhotonics). The C++ components can support 80 channels at 75GHz channel spacing, which effectively increases the capacity of an optical fibre by as much as 50 per cent over standard C-Band only systems at comparable distances.
