New OFS fiber supports 100G transmission over trans-oceanic distances

OFS, a Furakawa company, has introduced TeraWave ULA Ocean Fiber, a new singlemode fiber designed for 100-Gbps coherent transmission in submarine systems over distances up to 12,000 km.

TeraWave ULA fiber offers what OFS says is a unique combination of the industry's largest effective area, excellent cabling performance, and significantly reduced attenuation for reliable coherent transmission at 100 Gbps. The fiber's effective area of 153 square microns reduces nonlinearities, enabling the launch of higher signal power into the span, and improves signal loss to 0.176 dB/km at 1550 nm.

The new fiber is optimized for ultra long-haul networks that use advanced modulation formats and coherent detection, such as transoceanic networks where extreme distances between shore end terminals limit the per-channel launch power in DWDM transmission. Compared to earlier generations of submarine fibers, TeraWave ULA fiber reduces the performance limitations introduced by fiber nonlinearities, thereby supporting higher spectral efficiency and improved repeater spacing.

When used in shorter length applications, the fiber can provide even better nonlinearity performance for increased spectral efficiency, the company adds. Applications without repeaters, such as coastal festoons and deep-water crossings, can also take advantage of the large effective area of TeraWave SLA ocean fiber, which permits higher power handling capacity without additional distortion, meaning more channels at higher speeds over longer distances before amplification is required.

OFS manufactures TeraWave ULA fiber using proprietary processes to produce fiber with low water peak performance and ultra-low polarization mode dispersion (PMD). As with all its ocean fiber products, OFS has the ability to color and splice TeraWave ULA fibers to meet stringent customer requirements. Fibers are selected to meet customer specifications for number of fibers, colors, lengths, and transmission properties, and then assembled into sets. Final measurements help ensure that customer specified performance is met for all fibers in the set.

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