Furukawa Electric Announces Sampling of Micro ITLA For 400 Gb/s Optical Coherent Transmission

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Sep 23, 2013, 06:00 ET

LONDON, Sept. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ECOC 2013, Booth #525 - Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. has developed a micro Integratable Tunable Laser Assembly (ITLA), a key component in ultrahigh-speed optical digital coherent transmission devices operating at 400 gigabits per second (400Gbps). This transmission device is now being introduced globally with an initial sampling and full production planned in the near future.

The new micro ITLA product will be exhibited at the European Conference and Exhibition on Optical Communication (ECOC) to be held September 22-26 in London, United Kingdom.

Background of the Development:

Global network traffic continues to grow at a phenomenal rate. The telecommunications industry is accelerating the deployment of 100 Gbps, or even faster 400 Gbps, transmission systems, and converging on optical digital coherent technology. These new systems use multi-level modulation techniques such as 16 bit Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) and quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) to improve the special efficiency of the network.

Contents of the Development:

The micro ITLA is a laser light source that has been made smaller and consumes less electric power, while complying with the same Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) standard as the conventional ITLA. Furukawa has developed the micro ITLA with narrower linewidth, a finer wavelength grid and better wavelength stability, which are required for 400Gbps digital coherent transmission and flexible grid in the elastic optical network technology.

Narrower linewidth is required in 16QAM multi-level modulation, which is a modulation format candidate to be used in 400Gbps digital coherent transmission, because higher bit rates requires higher coherency to improve transmission quality. The new ITLA achieves less than 300 kHz of linewidth through optimization of the structure and processing of the laser chip. In addition, the new ITLA enables 0.1 GHz flexible grid intervals, contributing to further improvements in spectral efficiency.

Using its expertise in laser driver circuits and digital circuits, Furukawa has developed technologies for manufacturing the micro ITLAs enabling a size reduction to 37.5 x 20 x 7.5 mm, half the size of a conventional ITLA. In addition, power consumption was reduced by 20 % in comparison with that of conventional ITLAs, driven by performance improvements in the laser chip.

Major specifications of the developed product:

Item	Specifications of micro ITLAs	Specifications of conventional ITLAs
Wave length variable width	1528 – 1564 nm (C-band) 1570 – 1607 nm (L-band)	1528 – 1564 nm (C-band) 1570 – 1607 nm (L-band)
Optical output	16dBm	16dBm
Linewidth	< 300 kHz	< 500 kHz
Side mode suppression ratio	> 40dB	> 40dB
Average relative intensity noise	< -140 dB/Hz	< -140 dB/Hz
Wave length stability	< +/-1.5 GHz	< +/-2.5 GHz
Minimum grid	0.1GHz	25GHz
Power consumption	5 W	6.5 W
Size	37.5 x 20 x 7.5 mm	74 x 30.5 x 10.5 mm

About Furukawa Electric Company, Ltd.
Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. (www.furukawa.co.jp/english) is an $11 billion global leader in the design, manufacture and supply of fiber optic products, network products, electronics components, power cables, nonferrous metals, and other advanced technology products. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Furukawa operates production facilities on five continents around the globe, including OFS in the U.S.A., Europe and China.

About OFS
OFS is a world-leading designer, manufacturer and provider of optical fiber, optical fiber cable, FTTX, optical connectivity and specialty photonics products. Our marketing, manufacturing and research divisions listen to customers and work together to provide innovative products and solutions that traverse many different applications as they link people and machines worldwide. Between continents, between cities, around neighborhoods, and into homes and businesses of digital consumers we provide the right optical fiber, optical cable and components for efficient, cost-effective transmission.

OFS' corporate lineage dates back to 1876 and includes technology powerhouses such as AT&T and Lucent Technologies (now Alcatel-Lucent). Today, OFS is owned by Furukawa Electric, a multi-billion dollar global leader in optical communications. Headquartered in Norcross (near Atlanta) Georgia, U.S., OFS is a global provider with facilities in Avon, Connecticut; Carrollton, Georgia; Somerset, New Jersey; and Sturbridge, Massachusetts, as well as in China, Denmark, Germany and Russia.