Xtera reports Raman-assisted 150x100G transmission of 410 km unrepeatered

High-speed optical transport systems vendor Xtera Communications, Inc. reported last week at ECOC in Cannes, France, the transmission of 15 Tbps in the form of 15 wavelengths of 100G apiece across two types of fiber. Using an advanced fiber from Corning, Xtera says it was able to transmit the 15 wavelength 410 km without recourse to repeaters.

The demonstration used Xtera’s Nu-Wave Optima optical transport platform and leveraged the company’s Wise Raman amplification technology. When used with Corning’s SMF-28 ULL fiber with an average A_eff of 83 µm², Xtera says the transmission reached 334 km. When a remote optically pumped amplifier (ROPA) was inserted in the line at about 115 km from the receiver end, the partners increased the transmission distance to 390 km.

Next, Xtera used Corning’s Vascade EX2000 optical fiber with an average A_eff of 112 µm². In this instance, the transmission extended to 410 km.

The ECOC results followed tests reported in a post-deadline paper at OFC this past March in which Xtera, Verizon, and Corning achieved an unrepeatered transmission of 557 km using Corning’s Vascade EX2000 optical fiber and a pair of ROPAs.

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