TE SubCom demos 100G coherent undersea cable system

Submarine cable network specialist TE SubCom says it has successfully demonstrated 100-Gbps coherent transmission over trans-Atlantic distances with total capacity of 10 Tbps on a single fiber. The test was carried out using a prototype of the company’s new smarTEr C100 transceiver.

David Coughlan, CEO, TE SubCom, said that the demonstration is "a notable step toward the delivery of the first generation of new, 100-Gbps subsea cable systems and marks the beginning of ultra-high, double-digit terabit per fiber pair deployments."

In the demonstration, which was conducted on a straight line coherent-optimized test bed that simulates undersea systems including amplifiers and fiber, 100x100 Gbps was transmitted error-free over 6,400 km with significant system performance margin. The hardware tested included proprietary soft decision error-correction algorithms.

TE Subcom says that a number of its customers are looking beyond the current wave of system upgrades and considering plans for new, future-proofed and specifically designed 100-Gbps cable systems, to drive future competitive advantage to their business.

"What we have seen as technology has evolved is that it is absolutely crucial for customers to make the right selection of original cable system supplier at the outset, as their decision has long-term implications for maximizing the return on a significant capital investment," said Coughlan. "However, we do expect the current activity in the upgrade of existing DWDM dispersion managed systems will reach a technical and economic limitation, probably in the next two years. For that reason, TE SubCom has embraced the movement toward 100G."

Ekaterina Golovchenko, TE SubCom managing director, product management, will discuss the growing demand for purpose-built 100-Gbps undersea cable systems at PTC 2012.

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