The desire for faster data centre optics appears to be outpacing the standards process. As a result, 22 companies have joined forces to speed up the development of 100Gb/s serial optical interfaces.

The 100G Lambda multi-source agreement (MSA) group is developing specifications for optical interfaces based on 100Gb/s per wavelength over duplex singlemode fibre. These new optical specifications are targeting 100 and 400 Gigabit Ethernet applications in the next-generation of networking equipment.

Johns Hopkins University reports that a team of engineers from the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) has successfully demonstrated a high-bandwidth, free-space optical (FSO) communications system between two moving ships, proving that FSO technology can operate in maritime conditions. The Lab demonstrated its latest compact form factor system during the 2017 Trident Warrior Exercise, an annual event where sailors try out the latest innovations in naval warfare systems.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) and six partners have established a new world record of 118.5Tb/s for the largest transmission capacity achieved over an optical fibre of standard dimensions.

Though the optical fibre had the same diameter as standard singlemode fibre, its structure was not standard. The design contained four cores (light paths) running along the fibre’s length.

Semiconductor foundry CST Global is leading a UK government-funded project that could substantially reduce the cost of manufacturing high-speed laser diodes for next-generation fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks.

The market for passive optical networks (PON) is expanding rapidly as consumers upgrade their broadband connections to higher speeds. Indeed, this summer, CST Global said it had shipped more than 25 million lasers into PON markets worldwide. To meet the insatiable demand for bandwidth, the next generation of PON lasers will need to be both higher speed and lower cost.

Rockley Photonics, a silicon photonics start-up founded by entrepreneur Andrew Rickman, has formed a partnership with the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the UK’s University of Southampton to develop integrated photonics technology for mass market applications.

Through the ‘Prosperity Partnership’, Rockley Photonics will match the ORC’s government funding over the next five years. The scheme is designed to strengthen ties between university and industry, and speed up the time it takes innovation to progress from concept to market place.

To much fanfare, Nokia has unveiled what it claims is the industry’s first true petabit-class routing platform, powered by a new network processor chip that is six times faster than its predecessor.

Broadcast in 360-degree video around the world, the launch event in San Francisco marked Nokia’s biggest product introduction in recent years.

Infinera has unveiled the XTM II, a next-generation packet-optical platform for metro networks, with increased density, low latency and reduced power consumption.

Calix announced that it is the first vendor to demonstrate ITU standards-based channel bonding for NG-PON2, which combines multiple 10Gb/s channels to create a single channel with throughput of up to 40Gb/s.

Channel bonding allows operators to deliver more bandwidth than a single channel can support. This technique is used to boost capacity in DSL and G.fast systems by combining the capacity from several copper cables into a single logical channel. In the case of NG-PON2, the channels are wavelengths running over the same physical fibre.

Coriant reports the successful completion of a trial to show disaggregated 100G, 150G, and 200G optical transmission over live fibre-optic links in Telefónica Germany’s existing 10G DWDM network.

Conducted earlier this year, the trial showed how an open transmission systems and disaggregated networking technology – in this case using Coriant’s Groove G30 platform – can be used to increase network capacity more than 10-fold, avoiding the need to invest in new fibre.

Infinera has carried out a successful submarine network field test of its Infinite Capacity Engine (ICE) with Canalink, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the ITER group. Canalink owns a system of undersea fibre-optic cables linking the Canary Islands with the Iberian Peninsula and the western coast of Africa.

The test, which was conducted on Canalink’s 1,393km cable linking the Conil landing point on the Spanish mainland with Tenerife in the Canary Islands, showed that it would be possible to upgrade the subsea cable well beyond its original design capacity.